Fears over the loss of ‘personal touch’

A public meeting into the closure of Inagh Garda Station was held at Inagh community hall on Monday night, where locals were given an opportunity to voice concerns with their local Superintendent and Clare’s Chief Superintendent.

 

At the meeting Superintendent Derek Smart, attached to Ennistymon Garda Station, said the first he heard of the proposed station closures in Clare was on Budget Day.

He said he arranged Monday’s meeting as he knew there would be concerns and questions from the local community.

Superintendent Smart said the changes would be “a challenge” but that the gardaí in Clare were committed to maintaining their links with communities. He invited the Inagh community and the surrounding villages serviced by Inagh Garda Station to consider forming a community watch or alert group. He added that the gardaí would “always be accessible” and advised that he, as Superintendent, would be available to attend a monthly meeting in the community, if so desired.

Clare’s Chief Superintendent, John Kerin, outlined his proposals in light of the changed circumstances and encouraged the community to get on board with a community alert initiative.

“Change is very hard and in an ideal world I would like to see us continue with the same number of garda stations as we had in the 1920s. The reality is an analysis of the garda stations were carried out and there were two incidents per day recorded in the Inagh area. Some of these may just be the traffic corps catching people for speeding. The crime rates here have been very low.

“We have decided in Clare we will have monthly meetings in the community. If ye want to nominate people who represent the community to form a community forum which can meet with the superintendent once a month and I’d be available to meet once every two months. That is something I would like to organise throughout the county,” he said.

The chief superintendent said his biggest worry as a result of the changes was the loss of local knowledge. He said going forward he would assign gardaí to specific communities and, in Inagh’s case, their local garda, Michael Burke, was likely to remain as their point of contact.

“We might have the community hall open for an hour a week to provide a facility to stamp passports. The one thing we have to get right is that we don’t lose touch with the community. It will be a challenge for us but the reality is we don’t have a choice in this. The decision was made by the Minister and the Commissioner and I don’t think there is any rowing back on it,” he said.
Locals said they were indeed concerned that the “personal touch will be gone”.

One local said he was made aware of someone who went to Ennistymon to have a passport stamped but because the garda didn’t know him they came away empty handed.

Superintendent Smart said that should not have happened and Chief Supt Kerin said if the gardaí had access to a facility such as a community hall that problem could be alleviated, but he did say if identification is produced at a garda station there should be no reason that the document would not be signed.

Another member of the public wondered what the saving was in closing the garda station. Chief Supt Kerin estimated it would be in the region of €3,000 to €4,000, but he stressed he was just speculating.

Others at the meeting queried whether gardaí would know specific areas within the locality. Supt Smart said the gardaí in Clare are currently mapping every area with GPS and are using local garda knowledge in this process.

Chief Supt Kerin said there is no reason why the same level of policing in Inagh can’t continue. “It is just that the building won’t be there anymore, we can still provide that service”, if we can get the use of a hall or other venue.

“No one wants to see stations closing but it is happening and it is down to us to see what we can do. If we try these open forums I do think that it will be a good way of knowing what issues are in the area so we can put resources in place to deal with those issues. If we get this rolled out throughout the county communities like Inagh could have much more contact with us than heretofore. I’ve said it before ye are our eyes and ears. As householders too we all need to take precautions to prevent crime. We all have a role,” Clare’s garda chief said.

He stressed he has lost a significant number of gardaí through retirements, transfers and now had to operate with up to 50 less employees.

“It’s a huge challenge don’t get me wrong. The reduction of gardaí is not helping and I can’t see recruitment this year or next year and we will see more retire. We have got to keep policing at acceptable levels. I will be looking for an inspector to be assigned in Ennistymon if we are to lose Superintendent Smart,” he said.

No dates have been released for the implementation of the closures but Chief Supt Kerin said he would be “amazed” if they occurred sooner than the middle of 2013.

Gardaí will hold a further meeting in Inagh in February, 2013 to establish a community forum and Chief Supt Kerin advised that such a forum should include a good mix of people from different backgrounds and ages.