public order training - Garda Review

Garda_Nov_07_p16-23:Garda_Mar_07-p4-29 11/9/07 10:45 AM Page 20
TENTACLES
Detective Garda John Keane is a member
of the district detective unit. He said, “We
have our problem with drugs, which are in
every town and village in the country now.
Operation anvil was an advantage, a great
addition; we had two extra people working
every day out in a car. Even intelligence
wise, we could place them in any area
where we have crime.
“We have a very big district and we are
very close to Limerick. Criminals in
Limerick could steal a car and come in
and do some burglaries in our sub-districts
and be back in the city before they are
even reported. This creates a lot of hassle
for us, so we have tried to locate anvil on
the border; both in the day and at night.
We have been following the trends of the
burglaries.
“We work closely with the divisional
drugs unit and we are often involved in
operations with them. It is a substantial
part of our job. Many of the other crimes
are related to the drug users. Members of
the major city drug gangs might not live in
the district but they would certainly have
tentacles out here; dealing and the like.
Tipperary Town
“YOU CAN’T ASK
DIRECTIONS AS NO ONE
LIKES TO SEE A GARDA ON
THEIR DOORSTEP AT THREE
O’CLOCK IN THE
MORNING. WE DON’T
COME BEARING GIFTS”
Every now and again they move in for a
while and then move on.”
Three of the sub-districts are in east Co.
Limerick and are all within 20 minutes of
Limerick city; dysfunctional parts of
Limerick city where the sprawling housing
estates have anti-social problems, social
issues and drugs. It’s fairly spread out.
In the station there is the Superintendent
and one Inspector, Paschal Feeney the
current President of AGSI. There is no
traffic corps based here; the new corps is
in Cahir.
The station party is young; very few of
the station party commute the 25 miles
from Clonmel or Limerick (Tipperary is
half way between them). The socialising in
TIPPERARY: A LITMUS TEST FOR CONTEMPORARY RURAL POLICING
20 � GARDA REVIEW � NOVEMBER 2007
the station is primarily within each unit,
but the station party will get together for
leaving events.
Garda Tony Chearnley had been in the
district since 1993, and is one of the
longest serving members in a young
station party. He said, “That in itself can
cause problems; young people working on
their own without the local knowledge can
mean they don’t know where they are
going.
“Somebody can be on their first day in
the job and they are out in the car trying to
do something. It can be a problem – we
believe that the cars require some kind of
global positioning system, even to locate
places afterwards. We waste a lot of time
going to alarm calls when we don’t know
where the place is. We might have the
name of a house in a townland; and yet
there are no signs.
“Unless you know the place, you are
lost. You can’t ask directions as no one
likes to see a Garda on their doorstep at
three o’clock in the morning. We don’t
come bearing gifts and bringing good
news.
“It takes a long time to build this local