Incidents of spitting and the use of anti-spit hoods (top) as used by An Garda Síochána
This afternoon.
Ahead of a report by the Policing Board of Northern Ireland on the PSNI’s use of spit hoods expected at Midnight…
Via RTÉ:
…Gardaí have used anti-spit hoods 118 times while policing during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report from the Policing Authority.
The hoods, the use of which has been criticised by both the Authority and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, have been used 100 times on males, 18 times on females and six times on children.
They have been deployed mainly in Dublin (on 51 occasions) and mostly during assaults and public order incidents – 54 times for public order offences and 34 times during an assault.
In 79 cases, the person appeared to be intoxicated, while in 16 cases the detainee was believed to have a mental health issue. In one case, the person was perceived to have “obvious signs of a learning disability“.
Report in full here
Policing Authority report finds strong compliance with virus restrictions (RTÉ)