Conference Report 2016

Section 1: Pay and Allowances
The ‘unique’ Characteristic in Perspective
3.18 Regardless of the function of an individual member
of the force, it has been established that the role of
the police officer is unique within our society. The
Desborough Committee (1919) concluded:
“...a policeman has responsibilities and obligations
which are peculiar to his calling and distinguish him
from other public servants and municipal employees
and we consider the police entitled thereby to
special consideration in regard to their rate of pay
and pensions...the burden of individual discretion
and responsibility placed upon a constable is much
greater than that of any other public servant of
subordinate rank.”
3.19 Thirty years later the British Oaksey Committee
(1949) endorsed this judgement. It was also
subsequently upheld by a British Royal Commission
(1962). This Commission concluded that the police
officer is:
“...answerable to his superiors for any disciplinary
lapse and to the courts for any misuse or abuse of
authority. Thus either when acting alone, on his own
initiative or when acting under orders, he is himself
answerable for any error of judgement
...vigilant both to use his authority adequately and
instantly as occasion demands, and at the same
time never to exceed it. We are satisfied that this
individual responsibility is more onerous than any
delegated to, or assumed by, a member of any
comparable profession or occupation.
Responsibility of this kind, to be properly and
reasonably exercised, demands high moral
standards and a nice exercise of judgement.”
3.20 In a subsequent publication, from the Harvard
University Press (1968) Professor Wilson made the
striking, though accurate, observation that the
police force has the “special property that within it,
discretion increases as you move down the
hierarchy”.
3.21 By 1970 the Conroy Commission had broadened the
perspective on the unique nature of the job,
describing it as:
“…a way of life... a vocation. A policeman’s duty has
first claim on his time. His wife, family and social
relationships take second place...Without any, or
any adequate, prior notice he may be called on to
serve long hours of duty or he may be liable to have
his leave stopped owing to an emergency. He is
exposed to the risk of assault and of personal injury
in the performance of his duty...Liability to transfer
is a feature of a policeman’s life...On transfer, his
children have to change schools with a possible
detrimental effect on their education. His wife and
family lose their circle of friends and have to start
afresh in a new environment.”
3.22 When the Ryan Committee of Inquiry reported (1979)
it also addressed (in considerable detail) this
‘unique’ character of the job:
“We accept the uniqueness of the Garda function. It
was recognised by the Conroy Commission and
taken into account in its recommendations. Special
qualities are needed to make a good policeman and
the conditions of employment have many special
features, which are not found in outside
employment.
“The Garda must have certain physical attributes.
He must have attained a level of education that will
enable him to undertake a job in which intellectual
as well as physical skills are required. In the course
of his duties he will be called upon to familiarise
himself with a large and complex body of law and
must be able to apply it to different situations.
“Temperamentally, if he is to make a good
policeman, he must be able to combine a firm
38th Annual Delegate Conference
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