‘Endless red tape’ – Front line Gardai ‘stuck behind desks’ instead of on streets as cops call for policing model change

FRONT line gardai say they are being tied up with endless red tape and the policing model is unfit for purpose.

Officers claim they spending too many hours stuck behind computer screens instead of on the streets “where they want to be”.

The Garda Representative Association’s annual conference kicks off tomorrow in Killarney, Kerry, under the theme It Was A Job Worth Doing — Undervalued and Under Attack.

GRA president Mark O’Meara said: “Unfortunately, that is how many of our members feel.”

Up for discussion is the Operating Policing Model, which the association says has failed. Mr O’Meara said it is “unfit for purpose” and a motion calls for an immediate review.

The GRA, which represents over 11,000 rank-and-file members, believes the model is also damaging recruitment and retention of staff.

Mr O’Meara said: “Gardai are tied up in endless red tape, stuck behind desks instead of being out on the streets where they want to be.”

He said recruitment numbers have remained static for over a decade while population increased.

The association has called for training allowances to be raised and a pay rise for some officers.

It comes days after the number of prisoners in Irish jails hit a record high – with anger and tension mounting in slammers.

New figures reveal that as of Thursday, April 24, 5,332 people were incarcerated with only 4,666 beds available.

This meant 666 inmates were being forced to sleep on mattresses, double up in single cells, causing rising tensions.

TEMPORARY ACCOMMODATION

Almost every prison in the country has been swamped, with 987 in Mountjoy, a jail with a bed capacity of 807.

The Irish Prison Service has created more temporary accommodation there over the past few weeks to cope with the demand.

But staff still had to find places to detain an extra 180 inmates.

A Mountjoy source said: “This place is on tenterhooks at the moment, we have two or three fellas in some cells when we use to only have one.

“There is a lot of tension in the air because of the overcrowding and fellas have no privacy. There is a lot of anger among the prison population and we are doing our best to keep a lid on it.

“Assaults and attacks on staff are up.

“Why in the name of God the State not build another new prison with a rising population is beyond belief.”

Social Media Collect