KILDARE: Call for boost in community policing

A boost for community policing across County Kildare is being sought.

Labour Party Senator Mark Wall in Kildare South has called on the government to support his party's Seanad motion tomorrow, February 28.

The motion calls for an increase in policing numbers, in order to tackle 'pressing concerns' in local communities.

Commenting ahead of the motion, Senator Wall said: "Sufficient garda presence is crucial to the well-being and safety of our communities.

"Community Policing model is a partnership-based, proactive, problem-solving style of policing, focused on community engagement, crime prevention and law enforcement and we need more of it."

The Athy politician continued: "Fine Gael have been in charge of Justice for 12 years and garda morale is on the floor... we’ve heard from a worrying Garda Representative Association survey that there is a worrying culture of bullying, stress and mental burnout within the organisation, and there are also far less community Gardaí active than there were a year ago.

"We urgently need to adequately resource our community gardaí, the government must properly resource community safety partnerships across the whole country, to enable them to fulfil their potential and intent.

"Without adequate support, these partnerships cannot effectively address the complex challenges facing our neighbourhoods."

Labour Party Senator Mark Wall.

Senator Wall further said: "We must significantly increase the number of Juvenile Liaison Officers to provide essential support for young people engaging with Youth Diversion Programmes.

"Early intervention is key to breaking the cycle of youth offending and fostering positive outcomes.

"Last year, the total strength of An Garda Síochána declined, reaching the lowest level in five years; we know that 164 Gardaí resigned from the service compared with 26 a decade ago.

"This is a 50 per cent increase on the previous year, a six-fold increase on 2016 and Fine Gael are failing to address the issue."

He again criticised Fine Gael by saying: "Fine Gael's inadequate response to this crisis is unacceptable.

"We demand immediate action to address this issue."

Senator Wall also said: "We cannot afford to delay any longer; the government must support Labour’s motion.

"We need to re-establish small policing areas and significantly increase the recruitment of community focused gardaí who are tasked with building relationships in local communities."

"It is time for the government to step up and ensure that our communities have the support they need to thrive and prosper," he concluded.