A
change of mindset among Garda top brass is key if the force is to become a more
community-focussed police service, better protecting areas ravaged by drugs and
crime. “The Commission on the Future of Policing found that around 80% of law
enforcement work is nothing to do with policing and crime — its dealing with
vulnerable people, mental health and addiction,” Dr Connolly said. Common to
both this report, and Community Resilience, is a focus on communities,
particularly working- class communities and the “right” they have to a proper
policing response. Johnny Connolly has been around long enough not to give
hostage to fortune. Launching the Community Resilience report, Dublin’s top
police officer, Assistant Commissioner Pat Leahy said: “The Commission on the
Future of Policing in Ireland called us out. It said neither your structures
nor your behaviours reflect the view you have of yourselves as a community
policing organisation. You know for me personally, that was a slap in the
face.”
Asked
“will or can” the massive restructuring planned for An Garda Síochána and
policing actually bring about the necessary changes, he takes a moment, before
saying: “I think it can change”. He was speaking to the Irish Examiner after
publishing his latest detailed research, Building Community Resilience,
commissioned by a network of four community policing fora spread across Dublin
south west, inside and outside the Grand Canal. It surveyed the experiences of
working-class communities, battered by drugs, gangs and disadvantage, and the
inadequate response of the State, in terms of policing and youth intervention.
It
utilised a crime-mapping system, used previously in the Greentown project by
researchers at University of Limerick, to provide a visual representation of
“criminal networks”, their scale, associations and hierarchy. Along with
research assistant Jane Mulcahy of University College Cork, Dr Connolly spoke
to Gardaí and community activists on the ground. It was his first research
report after being a member of the Commission on the Future of Policing in
Ireland. Its report, published in September 2018, has been adopted by the
Government and an implementation group is the process of endeavouring to make
it a reality.
Dr
Connolly worked for 10 years as a criminologist within the Health Research
Board, during which he produced a major research document, commissioned by the
Department of Justice, on the illicit drugs market.
 |
Drug Baron Christy Kinahan Reputed To Be Worth €50m
|
Before that, he did
numerous pieces of research on drugs and crime in Dublin’s north inner city. A-
number of sources said his input into the CFPI was instrumental in its
recommendations in relation to community policing in particular.
Central
to this is the concept of “community safety”, with the prevention of harm and
the rights of communities central to this reorientation of policing. Parallel
with this is making the protection of the community not just the responsibility
of policing but of a whole range of state services, including mental health as
well as social, family, youth and drug services. This would include crisis
intervention teams, comprising Gardaí and social workers, which, the concept
goes, be operational around the clock.
“The
Commission on the Future of Policing found that around 80% of law enforcement
work is nothing to do with policing and crime — its dealing with vulnerable
people, mental health and addiction,” Dr Connolly said. Common to both this
report, and Community Resilience, is a focus on communities, particularly
working- class communities and the “right” they have to a proper policing
response.
“People
think of rights in this area to do with people accused of crimes, but
communities also have rights. Communities have a right to be safe. Parents have
a right to raise their kids in safety. These rights don’t often enter the debate,
but communities are entitled to community safety,” he said. He said state
agencies must be obliged to deliver on these rights for communities. Launching
the Community Resilience report, Dublin’s top police officer, Assistant
Commissioner Pat Leahy said: “The Commission on the Future of Policing in
Ireland called us out. It said neither your structures nor your behaviours
reflect the view you have of yourselves as a community policing organisation.
You know for me personally, that was a slap in the face.”
Regarding
the new community-focused police service set out in the commission’s report,
the chief said: “If senior [garda] management do not have a change of mindset
and are not totally committed to it, it is not going to happen — it’s as simple
as that.” Dr Connolly said the assistant commissioner “gets it” when it comes
to local communities and policing.
“The
commission report said An Garda Síochána have this idea of themselves as a
community policing organisation, but we said the structures are not there, the
way it is organised and the way community policing is valued — it is not valued
— is not there. Essentially, the view they have of themselves does not reflect
reality.”
He said
the commission’s view was that the “vast majority” of Gardaí in a division
should be “community focused”. He said the organisation “first had to accept
this vision” and then determine how it would do it.
He said
the divisional policing model — which preceded the appointment of Garda
Commissioner Drew Harris- but is now being actively driven by him — was the
biggest structural reform of the organisation since its foundation almost 100
years ago. He said this was the first and essential part of reform and that
this would drive the “cultural change” that AC Leahy was flagging.
The
appointment of Drew Harris as Garda Commissioner appears to dovetail with the
focus on the community, as the former PSNI chief has, from the outset, put the
protection of people, particularly vulnerable people, at the heart of his
policing philosophy.
The
Community Resilience report documented the impact of a relatively small number
of criminals, many of them just children, have on local communities.
The
research, similar to the Greentown project, refers to “criminal networks”
rather than gangs, to reflect the loose structure involved, though it was
combined, particularly in one of the two networks mapped, out with a
controlling hierarchy of “key players” and local “lieutenants”. The networks
provide status, power and access to money for many young people, some of them
as young as 10, while others are ensnared by debts accumulated through drug
use.
These
networks inflict terror on families of young people who owe money, or who have
drugs seized from them by Gardaí. More insidious and corrosive, is the general
fear and silence they impose on communities.
 |
DRUG BARON PAUL RICE REPUTED
TO BE WORTH ABOUT €10m
|
The
Community Resilience report called for a multi-agency response to those key
leaders of the criminal networks and intensive intervention towards both local
lieutenants and street dealers, as well as a rescue plan for those very young
children at risk of being groomed into the networks.
“Young
people being sucked into the drug trade do need a law enforcement response
because of the serious harm being done and the potential of even greater harm
being posed. That intervention needs to look at who is doing the grooming and
how can we access those children and work with their families.” On a side
issue, Dr Connolly is heavily critical of the State working group set up to
examine possible alternatives to the criminalisation of the possession of drugs
for personal use.
READ MORE
The group
recommended keeping possession a criminal offence but recommended a health
intervention for a first, and possibly second offence, and the use of an adult
caution. “The working group really underachieved and I’m really disappointed
that what it came to is an expansion of the adult caution scheme and diverting
people,” he said. “Criminalisation further stigmatises and does not address
availability or access.”
He said
that after intervening with young people being groomed, communities and young
people more generally must be helped. “Then we need to look at how can we
support communities, and build up their strength, and look at the young people,
build up their agency and pro-social opportunities for them, so they are not
lured through exploitation or intimidation into the trade.”
 |
| George (The Penguin) Mitchel- Reputed To Be Worth €70m |
He added:
“We mapped out the scale of these networks and said this was manageable. We are
challenging the narrative in the media that this is out of control. We are
saying this isn’t out of control. Yes, it is problematic, yes, it is serious,
but it is manageable.” Given all these developments — in terms of the focus on
communities and community policing, the restructuring of the organisation and
the implementation of the Policing Commission — does he think things can or
will change? Thinking about it, he said: “I think it can change. There does
seem to be a real interest in a different approach.”
He noted
the words of deputy general secretary of the Department of Justice, Oonagh
McPhillips, at the launch of the report. She noted one of the findings, that
the numbers involved in the criminal networks was relatively small and that the
problem “should be manageable”. She said the research came on the back of the
Policing Commission report, which she described as “revolutionary” in making
policing and community safety a “shared responsibility”.
She said
the landmark Policing and Community Safety Bill would deliver a co-ordinated
multi-agency approach to community safety, and that communities would be at the
centre of identifying issues and solutions. The aim was to in-still confidence
in communities of state services and “increase the sense of safety” within
communities.
 |
Gerry (The Monk) Hutch-
Reputed To Be Worth €10m
|
Responsibility
would be placed across government and statutory agencies. She expected the bill
to be brought to Government in the first quarter of 2020, after consultation
was carried out — comments made before the election was called, meaning the
timeframe will be delayed somewhat.
Dr
Connolly said that Ms McPhillips was indicating that the response from across
government was “overwhelmingly positive.” He added: “I have to take her word
for it and I do. There some seem to be a willingness to engage.” He accepted
there would be “implications for work practices and trade unions” in creating a
24/7 multi-agency service. “It makes sense. They can see the logic and the
evidence for it, but can they make it happen?”
He said
that if he was a senior policy maker with the Department of Justice or An Garda
Síochána the difficulties police have in accessing local communities should be
a “serious issue for the State”. He said: “There is a serious need to tackle it
now, before it does become unmanageable”. He said one part of this — and it was
a need identified also in the Policing Commission report — is to actively
recruit from working-class communities.
The
Policing Commission said: “A significant weakness in the police service is
diversity in socio-economic and geographical background. We visited lower income
urban areas and border areas from which no young people apply to join the
police. These areas have distinct policing challenges. “It should be a high
priority to recruit people who come from those communities and know them well.”
Dr
Connolly said it would be of “huge benefit” to the organisation if they
followed this advice. Parallel with this, he acknowledged that policing on the
ground in communities hardest hit by criminal networks, the drugs trade and
neglect, and interacting with young people there, requires a certain attitude
and skills by the Gardaí.
 |
DRUG BARON: Daniel Kinahan
Reputed To Be Worth About €10m
|
“They
will experience rough interactions,” he said, “but they need to treat the young
people with respect the first time. They have to be extra professional and role
models. They need to take that [rough talk] on the chin and be trained in
conflict management.
“If you
treat someone with respect, even if they treat you very derogatively or
abusively, you break down divisions over time. They will see you in the area,
talking to people.” But he stressed, this is a “long haul” and requires deep
commitment from the agencies.
“The Gardaí
need to build up relations and, over time, the people there might talk to you
about other things. “The organisation is still in a good position: a lot of
these communities are looking for more Gardaí and visibility — in other
countries they don’t want the police around. They want Gardaí there.”
READ MORE
ENDS:
No comments:
Post a Comment