Gardai want Leitrim communities to know they are here to help

Inspector Carla Curry said that she wanted the community to know that local Gardai are here to help, at a recent Joint Policing Committee meeting. 

Cllr Padraig Fallon said that following a community meeting in Drumkeeran, a number of people contacted him with regard to a road closure between Manorhamilton and Kinlough when an accident had occured but "there didn't seem to an alert for the road closure" through the Leitrim Alert app. 

The app and accompanying website facilitates the sending of Council updates, crime prevention alerts from An Garda Síochána, extreme weather warnings from Met Éireann, notices from Uisce Éireann, and community group notices. 

He asked if there was any way the JPC could make the public more aware of the service. 

Deputy Martin Kenny also attended the meeting and noted that "sometimes there is CCTV footage of a burglary, for example, and we see it on Crimecall" and asked if this footage could be circulated on sites such as Facebook "to get that out faster so that they could be quickly be able to deal with it."

He said that following an incident, "if Gardaí had footage they wanted to get out there, that they could do that through social media in the local area because the locals are most likely going to be able to help rather than leaving it for four months and seeing it on national television."

Insp. Curry said they work closely with the Garda press office and "have issued media appeals across our Garda Facebook page and Twitter". 

She said that in relation to the use of CCTV footage, "we are governed by GDPR so certain permissions are needed before you can circulate footage publicly."

She added, "We would be mindful of getting information out there regarding a suspicious vehicle or anything like that; we would put it up on our Garda Facebook page, contact the Garda press office too for media appeals across the local radio stations, etc."

Cllr Felim Gurn said that "nobody really knows their local Gardaí anymore" and noted that many Gardaí don't live locally and are commuting to their job from outside of the area. 

Cllr Justin Warnock agreed with Cllr Gurn's sentiments and said that at a recent community meeting with Gardaí there was a "very small crowd at it". 

He said some attendees didn't "even know the station was still open in Kinlough and didn't know the sergeant from Adam."

He continued that, in his view, it was a "serious issue" and stressed that he believed "we need to get back to that community policing because that's why you have so much break down in law and order because people don't know the Gardaí anymore."

Insp. Curry said that last year, a number of community meetings took place across the county and "some were fantastically attended and some not so well attended". 

She said the sergeant in charge of the station attended the meetings with "myself and the management team and the community Gardaí."

She continued that, with an increase in checkpoints, "that's a fantastic way of interacting with the public and also the community clinic in Drumkeeran but I would ask if you would highlight that service. We haven't had too many people coming in to avail of that service but we will continue to run it and engage with the community."

She noted that "beat patrols" have also been increased and Leitrim Gardaí are "making sure we are getting out and doing that whenever possible."

She suggested that the Gardaí community along with the sergeant visit Kinlough Social Club for over 55s so people have "one point of contact; Garda John Morgan and Sergeant Orla McGrath, as well as Garda Paula O'Dowd and Garda Declan Conway are attached to community engagement full-time and they are doing a huge amount, including visits to the vulnerable, in Leitrim."