Detective Superintendent Colm Murphy
The issue of not enough resourcing for gardaí to implement the new Operating Policing Model will be one of the main issues discussed today at the Association of Garda Superintendents annual conference in Co Meath.
The operating model is effectively a new regime for policing arising from the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland which has led to a number of garda divisions being merged and enlarged.
It is expected that the conference, which will be attended by Justice Minister Helen McEntee and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris, will hear that superintendents believe that they are losing links with local communities in Operating Policing Model divisions.
The senior gardaí argue that the reason for this is that there is not enough resources as they struggle to work within what they say are “unworkable geographical configurations.”
In his address to the conference this afternoon, the association’s president, Detective Superintendent Colm Murphy, is expected to point out that the number of officers at superintendent rank being at 168 is “wholly inadequate.”
Previously the number of superintendents in the organisation was 191 and the association believes more superintendents are needed to deal with the challenges of modern policing.
Garda management is struggling to fill posts quickly when officers retire, sometimes at short notice with the new policing model receiving criticism from gardaí of all ranks.
“The demands, expectations and responsibilities placed on us is ever an increasing burden, with increased numbers of protests, high profile sporting events, concerts, public order policing, extraordinary events, Operating Policing Model realignment and the deployment of our members as Regional Garda Liaison Officers abroad has seen significant pressures placed on our numbers,” Mr Murphy will tell the conference.
The theme of this year’s Association of Garda Superintendents conference is ‘Sharing the Burden’ and it is expected that Mr Murphy will explain that superintendents have faced many difficult and dangerous situations in the past year including last November’s Dublin Riots.
The conference will hear that superintendents are not against change but that changes within An Garda Síochána need to be properly resourced in relation to funding, accommodation and personnel.
This is not the case the association believes and “Instead we have an idealistic, rushed or forced through model, without consideration of the impact on the people so tasked to deliver it and more importantly the communities we serve,” according to Detective Superintendent Murphy.
