Gardai's 50-mile drive to log crime

"Mind-boggling" is how Ireland's chief rank and file Garda representative described the fact that there's no internet access at the main headquarters for law enforcement in South Roscommon, despite the fact that €500,000 of public money was spent on its refurbishment last year. The lack of a broadband connection means Gardai at the recently-reopened Clonark Garda Station, between Drum and Ballydangan, have to undertake a 50-mile round trip to Roscommon town in order to input data on crime to the internet-based Garda Pulse system. The Pulse system is used by Gardai to log and manage the information they collect, but it cannot be accessed in 282 (or 40%) of the 703 Garda stations across the country. Speaking to the Westmeath Independent yesterday, Garda Representative Association (GRA) president Damien McCarthy said the necessary broadband connection should have been included as part of the €500k refurbishment works which took place at the Clonark station last year. "It's mind-boggling, really. It should have been a first priority to ensure that the ability to access the Pulse system was in place. This just goes to show that when public money is spent things don't always go right," he said. "It's astonishing that, even after the boom, so many stations still haven't been fitted out with this infrastructure." The GRA president said seven Gardai were based in Clonark, which is the main station for the South Roscommon area, and "the bottom line for them is that they have to jump into a car and drive to another station" in Roscommon town in order to access the system. Ironically, the reason the disused station was extended and refurbished was to provide a district headquarters for South Roscommon, separate from the divisional base in Roscommon where officers are now required to drive. "We are not looking for Google or facebook or all of the other fancy things that come with the internet. We are simply looking to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the service we provide," commented Mr McCarthy. Secure radio and telephone lines were available for use by the officers, but the absence of email or access to the Pulse system made carrying out some duties "cumbersome" in stations that did not have access to the Garda broadband network. When contacted yesterday, the Garda press office stated that "a roll out" of connections to the Garda broadband network was "currently underway in every Division". The Garda press office did not provide any information on when the Clonark station would be connected. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice said "the provision of information technology facilities is an operational matter for the Garda Commissioner and not for the Minister for Justice." When discussing the issue of Garda retirements, and the moratorium on recruitment that was preventing positions from being refilled, the GRA president said 2,000 Gardai had left the force since 2009 and "there isn't a District in the country that hasn't been affected" by this. He believed this was causing increased concern in rural areas. "At the moment people are going to bed with the rosary beads in their hands because of the fear of crime, and that is totally unacceptable," he said. Mr McCarthy stated that rural areas were being particularly affected at the moment - both in terms of station closures and by the absence of broadband in stations that are open.