From top: Chief Inspector of the Garda Síochána Inspectorate Mark Toland; Chair of the Policing Authority Josephine Feehily (left) and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris
This morning.
Via RTÉ
The Government is to replace the Policing Authority and the Garda Inspectorate with a new oversight body, as recommended by the Commission on the Future of Policing, despite a submission to the contrary from the authority.
A new Strategic Threat Analysis Centre will also be set up to co-ordinate security and intelligence at a central government level…
…The authority, which is responsible for promotions and holding the commissioner to account in public, highlighted the potential risks of such a move to garda oversight and questioned how these changes could serve the public interest and maintain the current level of transparency.
However, the minister is to press ahead with the changes that will lead to the authority’s abolition.
New intelligence unit to assess threats to State (RTE)
Previously: The Future Of An Garda Síochána
This seems a shame.
The Policing Authority has only just been set up.
The model of public hearings into Garda performance is long overdue and very welcome.
Though I can see a lot of overlap between what the Policing Authority and what the Garda Inspectorate do.
That’s exactly what the Gardai need: a closer relationship to the politicians and better security intelligence capabilities.
Because the biggest issues facing the Gardai aren’t:
Smearing and intimidation of whistleblowers
Groupthink
Falsification of information
Can someone do a strategic threat analysis of yer man’s hair in the top pic, it could attack you at any time.
As to the substance of this, I had high hopes for the Policing Authority under Josephine Feehily, but although it kept on the backs of the Gardai about falsification of breath tests and unsafe convictions, not to mention the unreliability of crime statistics, it really didn’t make substantial progress over several years. It was depressing to read last week the CSO say “This report [review of the reliability of Garda crime statistics] concludes that there is evidence of improvement in both the recording process and in data quality, but that more work is needed to ensure a consistent statistical product.” Tomorrow’s publication of quarterly crime statistics are almost certain to be “under reservation” yet again, we haven’t had proper crime statistics in the country for three years which should be ringing alarm bells.
The policing authority failed to address at all rampant leaking of confidential information by Gardai which is often unlawful.
So, a new body might do a better job, but Charlie Flanagan is unlikely to appoint anyone with a hint of contrarian views.
He looks like he’s teaching her how to shake hands, while having a furtive grope.
Garda and intelligence in the same sentence? Progress of a type, I suppose.