High-visibility policing, which was recently launched in parts of Dublin city, will be extended to Cork city, Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly told the Justice Committee on Tuesday.
The Joint Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration met today for engagement on policing matters, with the committee hearing that the plan is also being extended to other parts of Dublin.
Data published in September revealed that there was a 23% rise in thefts in Cork city in the second quarter of this year, when compared with the first quarter. The overall crime rate in the city has jumped by 13%, with the most common crimes in the city after theft reported as public order offences, followed by attempts or threats to murder, then followed by assaults, harassments, and related offences.
Separately, new community safety city centre wardens are to begin patrols in Cork this week in an effort to deter crime and support local business. The recruitment of the wardens followed two stabbings in one week last month, as well as a reported rise in shoplifting.
The announcement of the expansion of the Dublin model comes as a survey last week which showed that four in ten people don’t feel safe in Dublin city centre at daytime despite attempts to bolster Garda presence.
Back in February, the newly appointed head of policing for Dublin, Assistant Commissioner Paul Cleary, said the force would be taking a more robust approach to street crime, which would include increasing high-visibility policing to make the capital safer. Mr Cleary said he had completed a detailed review of policing in Dublin and had planned to prioritise a greater garda presence.
“I genuinely believe that greater visibility will lead to a safer city,” Cleary told The Sunday Times earlier this year. “I want my members on the ground to tackle public disorder, street drug-dealing, aggressive begging, aggressive shoplifting and low-level crime more robustly.”
Mr Kelly said that since the plan had been implemented, many crimes are “down” including theft from persons, robbery from an establishment, begging and assaults causing harm. He added that detections of anti-social behaviour have risen by 18%, drunkenness by 67%, and drugs for sale or supply by 3%.
“The increasing Garda numbers means we can increase Garda visibility, with a focus on key urban locations. An Garda Síochána must play its part to ensure people feel safe to work and socialise in our towns and cities,” the commissioner said.
“The public and business community have already seen the benefits of our Dublin City Centre High Visibility Policing initiative with increases in detections of anti-social behaviour (up 18%), drunkenness (up 67%) and drugs for sale or supply (up 3%). Many crimes are down such as theft from person (down 28%) robbery from an establishment (down 9%), begging (down 57%) and assaults causing harm (down 17%).
“We are currently examining where to expand it further in Dublin. We will also be replicating this initiative in our cities and major urban centres. Cork city will be next.
“It is resource intensive so when we introduce high visibility, it must be sustainable. This is not for a weekend or a particular time of the year, it is for the all-year round.”
The committee heard concerns that constituents had told their local TDs that they didn’t see enough Garda visibly present in their areas.
Tom Brabazon, Dublin Bay North TD for Fianna Fáil said it seemed to be the case that there are a lot of “desk-bound Garda” and more paperwork under the last Garda Commissioner.
“Is there anything we can do to free them up? Because constituents of mine, particularly in Dublin Bay North […] there are complaints that we don’t see enough Garda out on the beat […] I think the high visibility is welcome in the city.”
“We’ve seen people under 18 of age, children, openly using drugs and intimidating residents, taking over parks and common areas in residential apartment blocks. People who are the victims of this behaviour are moving on rather than the perpetrators of it. From a policy point of view, is there anything we can do to change that?”
“There’s a clear sentiment out there from the public that under-18s, minors, just get away with it, and there doesn’t seem to be any sanction against them or their parents.”
Responding, Mr Kelly acknowledged the issues, but added that juvenile crime was “a whole of society” issue.
Speaking on Garda recruitment, Mr Kelly said that there are 200 more Gardaí than this time last year, and that” our pipeline for growth this year and next is also strong.” The total number of gardaí is 14,325, with a resignation level of 1 per cent.
“Over 220 Garda trainees will enter the College on Monday week – this is our biggest class in the last 10 years,” he said. He added that he believes the Government target of 5,000 new Gardai in five years “is achievable.”
The commissioner also referenced the situation at City West, which was the scene of heated protests after a ten-year-old child was allegedly sexually assaulted. He said that equipment and training had “increased significantly” since the Dublin riots – which took place in November 2023 after a young child was stabbed in the city centre.
This includes stronger incapacitant spray and helmets for all front-line gardaí, he said, also mentioning the rollout of body cameras in Dublin, Limerick, and Waterford. Public order units now have larger spray canisters and round shields for public order units as well as water cannons, he added.
“We saw the immense benefit of this investment recently at City West,” Mr Kelly said.
Mr Kelly, who took over the top job in July speaking to reporters for the first time in the summer, was asked what he believed was the greatest threat to Ireland.
“I wouldn’t say there is one particular [one],” he said. “If you go from radical Islam to state actors to politically motivated extremism to dissident republicanism, all of those are threats to us, and we can’t take our eye off the ball in any of those, so obviously, just the way things are.”
“National security, given my background, is also a significant priority to me,” the former assistant commissioner of organised and serious crime said.
“In fact, in my view, it’s not spoken about enough. We are living in very uncertain times with a. volatile geopolitical environment, and although we may be an island on the edge of Europe, we are not immune to the threats in the national security space.
“So it’s absolutely vital that we have all the capabilities in place to protect us from these threats and to keep the people of Ireland safe,” he added.