Community Policing in Ireland - Case Study Example

Is Community Policing an Effective Initiative in The Republic of Ireland' Reform of policing in Northern Ireland was central to the 1998 Good Friday Belfast Agreement. In the past several years the country has made significant strides toward the creation of a police service in The Republic of Ireland more representative of the communities it serves. The Community Policing initiative which sprung from the agreement is designed to meet community and social needs in a responsive and impartial manner. The need for such a programme was clear to the formers of the agreement, since much of the enmity in Northern Ireland sprung from the population's perception of the police as partisan and operating in the interests of the few, and for those in power within the ageless political struggle that have plagued the country for centuries. Under the terms of the agreement a Commission was formed to inquire into policing in Northern Ireland, to consult with all interested parties and organizations, and to make proposals for future policing structures and arrangements, including the proposed community police force and its composition, recruitment, training, culture, ethos and symbols. The aim was to create a police service that would be effective, operate in partnership with the community, cooperate with the Garda Siochana and other police forces, and be accountable both to the law and to the community which it serves. The report, which included information on human rights, accountability, size of force, recruitment and training and other social and cultural elements, led to the publication of the Police (Northern Ireland) Bill in May 2000, and its subsequent implementation. Sinn Fein, which represents a quarter of Northern Ireland's voters, refused to endorse the new force until all recommendations within the Patten Report had been implemented in full. (McKenna, Patten Report Summary) The philosophy of community policing programs which sprung from the agreement puts forth the notion that any effective policing in a diverse, democratic and peaceful society requires the full participation of all community members. In the case of the Belfast Agreements, participants in community policing efforts represent a broad spectrum of those communities, including the Police Service of Northern Ireland, members of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, managers of local District Political Partnerships, and senior executives from several of the twenty-six District Councils. A prominent result of this action culminated in Westminster relinquishing law enforcement control to Ireland, although Britain set out the departmental model to which these powers would be transferred. Translated, authority over policing and justice now lay within Ireland and with the Irish people. The report mentions Ireland's main policing authority, Garda S'och'na, as an integral player in the community policing solution. The following information is gleaned from the official Garda site (An Garda S'och'na): Garda S'och'na (AGS) is Ireland's national police service. Today, it exercises all police functions in The Republic of Ireland. Officially translated as "Guard(ians) of the Peace of Ireland", it is often referred to as simply "The Guardians of the Peace." The Garda consists of commissioners, assistant commissioners, administrative officers, executives, superintendents. Six geographical Assistant Commissioners command six Garda Force Regions: Dublin Metropolitan, Eastern, Northern, Southern, South Eastern and Western regions of the country. The Garda S'och'na Act 2005 provided for the establishment of a Garda Reserve, consisting of 4,000 members to assist the force in supplementing its functions within communities. ' Speaking specifically on its website about community policing, the Garda's role in the programme is described as "...a proactive, solution-based and community-driven form of policing... Community'policing'occurs where Garda and members of the community and statutory and voluntary agencies work together".(An Garda S'och'na, Community Relations) Its stated goals are to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour, reduce the fear of crime, promote inter-agency problem solving, bring offenders to justice and improve the overall quality of life. Through the program Garda aims to provide specific areas (locations) with their own dedicated Garda personnel with whom residents may discuss issues, thus developing a strong personal bond between law enforcement and community members. Programmes such as Neighbourhood Watch and'Community Alert reinforce this bond together with the inclusion of social agencies that operate in a particular community. Neighbourhood Watch, a crime prevention and community safety programme for urban areas, operates as a partnership between An Garda S'och'na and the public. It is reliant on community members to keep a look out for neighbours and report suspicious activities. Communities set up their own scheme based on streets, apartment complexes etc. Groups are set up with the help of Garda and with general community support. Groups consist of an area or street coordinator and its members. Young people specifically are encouraged to get involved. Garda's role is to include all watch strategies into regular policing activities, provide resource materials and a Garda Liaison. Community Alert Programmes function similarly but in rural areas. A hierarchy includes the Community Alert Committee, which manages the group and should be comprise of a community member from each townland; Community Alert Area Coordinator appointed or elected by the Community Alert Committee, who maintains close contact with the Garda liaison; and Community Alert Members. Garda supplies Annual Policing Plans with performance indicators to realise the full potential of the partnership programme. Both the Neighbourhood and Community Alert programmes will be reviewed for effectiveness in 2011. In 2000 the Garda established its Racial and Intercultural Office (GRIO) Staff members of the GRIO coordinate, monitor and advise on all aspects of policing in the area of ethnic and cultural diversity. The Office has a staff of 3 (2 Garda' and 1 Civilian Administrator).'GRIO staff members'are available to members of the public and the Garda organisation for advice and support in the GRIO area of expertise. Garda's Office for Children and Youth Affairs obviously handles juvenile offenses. With programmes in primary and secondary schools, the first consists of a series of presentations given to children by their local Garda' on the role of the Garda, road/cycle safety, bullying, vandalism, personal safety, drugs and crime prevention. The second is designed in conjunction with the Social, Personal & Health Education (SPHE) syllabus of the Department of Education & Science. Trained Garda' are available to co-facilitate classes as part of the SPHE course at Junior Cycle level in the areas of substance abuse and personal safety. Victim Support Programme supplies liaison officers that keep victims' families informed of the progress of an investigation and ensure that they are afforded appropriate and relevant emotional, psychological, information and practical support. The programme works in cooperation with the Victims of Crime Office, the Commission for the Support of Victims of Crime, the Department of Justice Equality and Law Reform and all the Victim Support Services nationally. In terms of public policy, community policing can be a wise one. However, analyzing if and in what way it is actually working or not deserves scrutiny. We can not assume that its status as a progressive move toward better law enforcement is necessarily true in all cases. We can safely assume that while there are positive outcomes there may be negative aspects as well. All of these deserve to be researched in the interests of better programme operation outcomes and programme improvements as time goes on. While generally applauding the community policing effort, a 2008 Sinn Fein report criticizes performance indicators in the 2007 plan as stressing quantity over quality. "For example, the performance indicators count the number of individuals profiled and the number of operations initiated. The implication being - the higher the number the better the performance". (Sinn Fein Submission to the Garda Policing Plan, p2) The statistics, the report goes on to say, "fail to distinguish actions that are effective, necessary and appropriate and actions that fail to produce results or that are simply harassment". In surveys conducted by the group a large percentage of those questioned say drugs and drunk and rowdy behavior are a serious problem, with 92 percent objecting to the number of Garda Reserve assigned to their areas which they see as unqualified to handle the problems as are the full time Gardai. (Sinn Fein Submission...Deployment and Resourcing Priorities, p 3) As an affect on community policing, then, a majority of the community (Dublin) would criticize the ability of the police to ameliorate these problems in their community. Generally, the need is suggested for more Gardai on foot. The National Crime Council reports Community policing now covers most larger urban areas and many rural areas. As of 31st March 2008, there were 674 members of An Garda S'och'na assigned to community policing, representing almost five percent of the total strength of the Force. It should be noted that while these are the number of Garda' specifically assigned to community policing duties, all Garda' have a role to play with regard to addressing community policing issues. Community policing is a fundamental policing philosophy that is not confined to a single unit. The information does not state whether what percentage of the 674 members are Garda or Garda Reserves. A table of Members of An Garda S'och'na Assigned to Community Policing by Garda Division appears at the end of the essay. While praising the Garda for making significant progress in human rights the report also indicates it still has a ways to go. It quotes a speech by Maurice Manning."The garda' have been much slower than the PSNI in bringing a fully-proofed human rights regime into their rules and activities". (Maurice Manning, quoted by Sinn Fein Submission, Human Rights and Public Service Ethos, p5 ) However, criticism of community policing efforts in the city may not be identical in more rural areas. ..."communities are 'organic' insofar as they improvise the police services they require to satisfy the safety needs of their individual members and reproduce social order". So essentially one can not assume positives and negatives will necessarily occur in the same numbers and frequency in different environments. This would also apply to different areas in Ireland, depending largely on the political situation as in Northern and Southern parts of the country. Community policing in the North is obviously faced with different problems and challenges than in the rest of the country. And, to be fair, judgments on effectiveness must be tempered with those realities. "...The subtle complexities of Northern Ireland's transitional landscape present acute problems for the community policing concept, both as a vehicle for police reform and as a tool for increasing the co-production of security through improved community interaction with the police". (Topping, Abstract) Fielding insists, "It is worth considering in detail how community policing proceeds under the circumstances that prevail in hostile communities. It is assumed that the organization is committed to providing service to the whole community, although it is acknowledged that a common response at organizational level is to withdraw, to respond reactively only, and then chiefly to major events. It is also acknowledged that in the worst current circumstances--the barrios of LA, in Harlem and the Bronx, and until recently, in parts of Belfast--there is no prospect of doing otherwise". (Fielding, Community Policing, p 127) Fielding cites research indicating problems with officers coming from rural communities, where there are few people of color, to urban areas where there are many. Considering charges of police harassment etc, Fielding quotes a superintendent. "Because they (police) are aware, of course, of the racism allegations that will follow anything they do to this man. They are aware that they have got to treat this man with kid gloves . . . It makes their job so difficult . . ." (Fielding, p 128) Yet, as members of the community police force the officers are expected to at times bear a good deal of verbal and physical abuse in an effort to appear non-biased. The community, as it were, is watching, with, in many cases, a critical eye that may also be biased against law enforcement. Combine blacks minorities with other ethnic groups and the situation becomes more complex. According to the NGO Alliance Shadow Report of 2004, "The Government has also done little to introduce positive discrimination programmes to correct the lack of representation of Black and minority ethnic groups in... the police or the civil and public service". (Shadow, Executive Summary 4 p 6) The Alliance, a group of over 40 independent Non-Governmental Organisations, works in Ireland on issues such as anti-racism, community development, and human rights. It supports the need for and the development of a National Action Plan Against Racism. According to the report, "Victims of racist incidents have expressed lack of confidence in the manner in which the police respond to racist incidents. The police complaints mechanism is widely recognised, including by the Government, as inadequate to meet the needs of victims of police malpractice, and the Equal Status Act, 2000, does not cover most police functions". (Shadow, Executive Summary, p7) It recognizes, however, that although the police are beginning to set up Liaison with Black and minority ethnic groups, "this system is insufficiently resourced, and there is a serious lack of anti-racism training within the force". (Shadow, Executive Summary, p7) It further questions the wisdom of the 2004 The Immigration Act, which introduced new requirements requiring foreign nationals to carry identification at all times and show the identification upon police request. The point taken is that such action further alienates such individuals from law enforcement, creating an environment of mistrust that hinders community policing. According to the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, in 2007 there were some reports of police abuse of authority and inadequate care for prisoners with mental disabilities. There were also instances of discrimination against immigrants, racial minorities, and Travellers, trafficking in persons, mistreatment of children, and domestic violence. From January to May of 2007, the Police Complaints Board recorded 486 complaints, including abuse of authority, discourtesy, neglect, and discreditable conduct. This is compared with 1,173 such complaints in all of 2006. Of these complaints, 301 were deemed legitimate and investigated. Zoe James in Policing marginal spaces: Controlling Gypsies and Travelers points out that while community policing initiatives that aim to address diversity are increasingly required to engage with Gypsies and Travellers, research indicates that the police are more involved in controlling the movement of these groups thereby limiting community policing initiatives. The police primarily engage with Gypsies and Travellers through enforcement practice. As government policy has developed to incorporate diversity issues, so Gypsies and Travellers have been included, on paper at least, in community policing agendas in recent years. James quotes Rowe, "the police and the multiple agencies who work with them, have not effectively practised community policing ideas with Gypsies and Travellers, nor can they without some embedded understanding of Gypsy and Traveller culture". (James, p 385). However, the rub is, and in fairness to community policing efforts,"... unless Gypsies and Travellers are forced to settle and policing agencies can pin down their whereabouts, it seems unlikely that policing will move beyond enforcement and reach the community policing model". (James p 385) In other situations police may respond to disorder, but lack of cooperation from residents is an issue. Fielding quotes a superintendent involved in a specific incident. "There seems to be some "Vendetta" element and I think that the victims have a shrewd suspicion as to the identity of the culprits but decline to say". (Fielding, p 129) This brings us to the issue of informants. "Despite latent negative effects that may be associated with community police, confusion surrounding the term, and problems in measuring its effectiveness, large claims are made for what it can do". (Fielding, Claims Made for Community Policing, p 26) Fielding is suggesting that expectation of community policing may be disproportionately large in relationship to realities, in this case, of the reliability of information. Largely reliant on informants and witnesses, effective policing in given areas can be difficult at best, depending upon information gleaned from the community. The issue of the informant is particularly troublesome in the historical context. The very word, in Ireland, carries a negative connotation. Community policing policy uses informants as a community policing tool in crime fighting. It is meant to develop a sense of cooperation within communities and make members feel protected and acknowledged by law enforcement. However, "In Northern Ireland, where paramilitaries regard loyalty to a cause as more important that anything else, there is no greater crime than to break an allegiance with your own people and turn police informer". (BBC NEWS) The question, then, for the police is one of gathering accurate and reliable information, protecting sources, and breaking through the social norms of neighborhoods that may view any informer is a pariah. Also, the possibility of "vendetta" mentioned above must color law enforcement's judgment of the validity of information received. The fine line between community cooperation must be tempered with the reality of false information for the purposes of personal revenge or retribution. In the last analysis, Fielding contends that "Rivalries based on rank (among the police) and the perceived status of different units obstruct the transmission of information to those who might act on it....The crime reporting system may be sufficient to provide a Home Office statistics return but inadequate to support pattern analysis for operational decision-making". (Fielding, Local Knowledge and Informants p 162) In this instance, he criticizes the force itself for internal failures that prevent effective policing. The extent to which policing in general has been politicised is not yet fully known, but there is evidence of mistrust from certain quarters. Socialist Republicans are skeptical. Although the hated RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary) has been replaced by the PSNI (Police Service of the North of Ireland,) and while acknowledging advances such as the inclusion of 20 percent more Catholics on the force, they maintain the fundamental nature of the PSNI remains the same, charging Sinn Fein and its support for the PSNI as helping to police the Catholic community specifically. I cite Willie Gallagher of the Irish Republican Socialist Party in his speech on November 27 in Belfast: Ireland: Policing: a bridge too far for Republicans. "For Republicans the PSNI can never be accepted as a legitimate and fully representational police service purely because they are the institution of British law in occupied Ireland. The PSNI, like any other police force in the capitalist world, protects property before people and act as an instrument of the ruling class". An independent DPP member in Moyle writes in an open letter: Community Police Sell Out!! We were told some months ago that Moyle District Command Unit (DCU) had the largest number of community police officers pro rata to other areas in N. Ireland. This has recently been cut, as I have highlighted, and we were told that these officers would be dedicated to routine community calls and setting up all sorts of initiatives with the youth, elderly and all types of other groups. These officers are now dealing with front line response calls and I can see no indicatives in place where community policing has improved the position in Moyle DCU. I am hesitant to use this term. As far as I am concerned, there is no Moyle DCU any more; it's simply 'H' District. The most recent blow to community policing in Moyle and Ballymoney is that their community teams and the community team from Coleraine are to be used to police Portrush night-life on a Wednesday night from now on. This means that Ballycastle, Cushendall and Bushmills will only have a response vehicle if there is one available. So, effectively from now on, the sight of police in the Moyle area will be an even rarer sight than it is at present on a Wednesday night. This also means that community police officers will be used for public order duties in Portrush which makes a complete contradiction of what we as DPP members were told that their remit would be. It is inevitable that these officers will end up with cases as a result of this duty. They will have even less time to spend as community police offices in their respective areas as the ensuing enquires will have to be followed up and files completed. I wonder why we never ever read police press releases to this effect. All that happens is that the public are continually swamped with statistics as a tool to try to fool them into believing that they are getting a better service. That is the 2008 style of policing. Not a ringing endorsement of community policing. An interesting event occurred when in 2007 Kathleen O'Toole, a law enforcement professional from Boston, become chief of the Garda Inspectorate. O'Toole was part of a panel of experts convened to overhaul policing activities in Northern Ireland discredited by complaints of bias. Frustrated by a lack of resources in Boston, O'Toole saw an opportunity to affect something positive in terms of law enforcement in The Republic of Ireland, which had considerable monetary resources. The Garda Inspectorate oversees the 14,000-member Garda Siochana. O'Toole's job of recommending ways for the Garda to become a more modern force with state-of-the-art standards and equipment is no less ambitious or daunting than that proposed in the Patten Report for Northern Ireland. One of her main challenges was to reform serious flaws in the structure, management, and culture of policing in Ireland, a step toward enhancing and improving community policing. In an article published in the Boston Globe by Kevin Cullen in March, 2007, O'Toole insisted, "The Irish government is serious about reform." O'Toole identified three key areas that need improvement and are relevant to policing: the visibility of officers, antiviolence strategies, and technology. While many of her approaches may be seen as ultimately improving community policing, some indicate her tendency to support police against legal challenges. One example set out in the article includes her disputing the findings of a judge who reviewed the handling of a 2000 siege in which police shot to death a mentally unstable man who had threatened them with a gun. O'Toole's rebuked the judge's contention that the police negotiators could have brought the victim's sister to the scene as "couched in diplomatic language" (Cullen). She was adamant that negotiations had to be left to trained police officers. This attitude could indicate mixed benefits for community policing efforts which promote attention to local sensitivities. Yet other aspects of O'Toole's law enforcement background bode well for the future of community policing in Ireland. She has a stated passion for community policing and once ran a consulting firm that specialized in that area in Boston. "Community policing was always about breaking down barriers between police and citizens in the community," she says, an attitude that will serve her and country well in its effort to provide a more localized approach to law enforcement. Meanwhile, some statistics show crime rates, in Northern Ireland at least, are at their lowest in five and a half years. Overall crime levels for 2007/2008 are currently 14 percent lower than the previous financial year to date. All districts are meeting their 2 percent crime reduction goal. PSNI Deputy Chief Constable Paul Leighton indicates a huge effort and many resources have been dedicated to working to prevent crime and keeping members of the community safe. As an aside, indications are that organized crime in both the north and south is unfortunately on the rise. While community policing efforts may be working when it comes to local crimes, organized crime may be gaining a foothold. This is not surprising with the advent of drug cartels in places such as the United States, and similar shadow organizations cropping up about the globe. It may be informative to sum up here recent information published by the National Crime Council of ongoing efforts to correct problems and improve community policing. The current Garda Siochana Corporate Strategy 2007-2009 has a three-year lifespan and outlines the strategic goals to be fulfilled during this period. These overarching imperatives are incorporated into yearly targeted results driven Police Plans. The strategy is heavily influenced by the programme of reform and modernisation necessitated by the Garda Siochana Act of 2005. The strategy embodies a 'Community-Focused Policing' approach involving local-level community engagement and 'problem solving' policing, "empowering local communities and community policing teams to engage in joint community safety initiatives". On 26th January 2009 Garda Commissioner, Mr. Fachtna Murphy, and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr. Dermot Ahern TD'launched a new National Model of Community Policing at the official opening of a new Garda Divisional Headquarters in Ballymun. The complete text of the Model can be viewed on the website: http://www.garda.ie/Documents/User/National%20Model%20of%20Community%20Policing%20-%20Jan%2026th%202009.pdf. Speaking at the opening, the Garda Commissioner highlighted the central role community policing must have in the daily work of An Garda S'och'na. "As an organisation, An Garda S'och'na has a long-established tradition of fostering and developing close relationships within the communities it serves. I am a consistent and strong advocate of the concept of 'Community Policing' as I see it as central to An Garda S'och'na's ability to deliver a professional, effective and responsive policing service. It is essential that the community remains at the heart of everything we do, as they are our greatest ally in our work in preventing and detecting crime and protecting the safety of the people we serve". (An Garda Siochana, Press Release). Murphy added that the new model includes ten core components he calls, "pillars". They are: partnership, enforcement, problem-solving, crime prevention and reduction, accountability, visibility, accessibility, collaborative engagement, empowerment and improved response." Certainly the fact that the Garda has developed and released this new model indicates that public satisfaction with community policing was far from 100 percent, and that issues addressed throughout the essay were reflected in it. However, words and commitments are only that. Will this new commitment bring additional success and greater public satisfaction with community policing efforts' The result remains unknown. Chances are that the public's perception regarding community policing will always be mixed, and perhaps based on unrealistic expectations given police resources, public cooperation, and a particular community's experience. Has the program been "successful'" In certain terms, any effort on the part of law enforcement to include the public in its actions must be deemed a positive. Table 1: Members of An Garda S'och'na Assigned to Community Policing by Garda Division ' Divisions Community Garda' Carlow/ Kildare 4 Cavan/ Monaghan 1 Clare 4 Cork City 28 Cork North 1 Cork West 5 D.M.R East 54 D.M.R North Central 69 D.M.R North 70 D.M.R South Central 80 D.M.R South 50 D.M.R West 88 Donegal 20 Galway West 19 Kerry 7 Laois/ Offaly 6 Limerick 90 Longford/ Westmeath 16 Louth/ Meath 15 Mayo 8 Roscommon/ Galway East 0 Sligo/ Leitrim 5 Tipperary 9 Waterford/ Kilkenny 20 Wexford/ Wicklow 5 'References An Garda Siochana, Ireland's National Police Service, Community Policing http://www.garda.ie/Controller.aspx'Page=74 An Garda Siochana, Community relations, Community Policing, Press Release http://www.garda.ie/controller.aspx'page=2343 BBC NEWS, Wednesday, 12 December, 2001, 12:43 GMT The murky world of informers. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/1705935.stm Field, Nigel, Community Policing, 7 Policing a Hostile Community, Community Policing, 'Claims Made for Community Policing, Local Knowledge and Informants', Clarendon Press, 1995. James, Zoe, Criminology and Criminal Justice, Policing Marginal Spaces: Controling Gypsies and Travelers, Zoe James, 2007, 7, 367. http://crj.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/7/4/367 Manning, Maurice, President, Human Rights Commission, Speech, August 20, 2007 McKenna, Fionnuala,The Patten Report on Policing: Summary of Recommendations, CAIN Web Service. http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/police/patten/recommend.htm Rowe, M., Police Narratives on Travellers: Racism and the Marshalling of "Community", paper presented at the British Criminology Conference, University of Leeds, July 2005.(secondary source). Sinn Fein Submission to the Garda Policing Plan 2008, 27 August 2007, Policing With the Community: 2 General Comment on Previous Policing Plans; 3 Deployment and Resourcing; 4 Human Rights and Public Service Ethos. http://www.sinnfein.ie/pdf/GardaPolicingsubmission08.pdf Stansfield, Ronald T., Revisioning Community Policing. http://www.ncjrs.gov/policing/rev125.htm Tannam, Marian; Warner, Rosemary; Ward, Tanya; Kanyanta, Mutale; Charlton, Densie; Attoch, Bennedicta; Foley, Nadette; Connoly, Jerome, Editorial Committee, NGO Alliance Shadow Report, Executive Summary. http://www.minelres.lv/reports/ireland/PDF_Ireland_Comhlamh_CERDShadowReport.pdf Topping, John R., Policing and Society, Vol 18, Issue 4, December 2008, Abstract, Community policing in Northern Ireland: a resistance narrative. http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content'content=a905740791'db=all'jumptype=rss Tannam, Marian; Warner, Rosemary; Ward, Tanya; Kanyanta, Mutale; Charlton, Densie; Attoch, Bennedicta; Foley, Nadette; Connoly, Jerome, Editorial Committee, NGO Alliance Shadow Report, Executive Summary. http://www.minelres.lv/reports/ireland/PDF_Ireland_Comhlamh_CERDShadowReport.pdf ' Read More