Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall TD has said senior Garda management must be held to account and victims and communities properly compensated for the force’s utter failure to prosecute juvenile crime.
“The victims of these crimes and their communities continue to pay an incredibly heavy price for the abject failure of our national police force to carry out its duties. When known youth offenders go unpunished, communities live in fear and trust in the force is completely shattered.”
Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall TD has said senior Garda management must be held to account and victims and communities properly compensated for the force’s utter failure to prosecute juvenile crime.
Deputy Shortall was commenting on today’s Garda report showing massive problems with the handling of juvenile crime, which resulted in 3,500 children and young people going unpunished for crimes including violent offences.
Deputy Shortall said:
“It beggars belief that the Garda’s system of juvenile justice could be so woefully inadequate that so many children and teenagers have not been prosecuted for crimes including serious assault, rape and firearms offences.
“The more than 3,400 victims of these crimes and their communities continue to pay an incredibly heavy price for the abject failure of our national police force to carry out its duties. When known youth offenders go unpunished, communities live in fear and trust in the force is completely shattered.
“For the young offenders themselves, the failure to prosecute even the most serious of offences creates a perception that they are untouchable under the law. This sense of impunity can lead young people down the path of a lifetime of criminal behaviour. Persistent anti-social behaviour including drug dealing by minors is directly linked to the failure of gardaí to use the powers available to them.”
Deputy Shortall added:
“This has to be a watershed moment for how An Garda Siochána under Commissioner Drew Harris handles juvenile offenders and its relations with both victims and communities. While I welcome the reforms the Commissioner has announced today, we need to see evidence of action – and that must include disciplinary action against senior Garda who allowed these failings to continue over a seven year period.
“In the wake of the penalty points scandal and the revelations of falsified breath tests, the public including crime victims needs to start seeing evidence that the force is actually turning a new page. This means action on the fundamental reforms contained in the recent report by the Commission on the Future of Policing, which placed great emphasis on information-led policing and reliable data, as well as a shift to community policing.”
ENDS
17th January 2019