Nine new Garda patrol cars on Galway’s roads soon

By TONY GALVIN NINE new Garda patrol cars will be on the roads of the county within weeks, bringing to 11 the number of new vehicles supplied to the Gardai in Galway this year. This news was conveyed to a Joint Policing Committee meeting for Co Galway when members expressed concern that Gardai did not have the resources to patrol areas no longer served by rural stations. Supt Marie Skehill assured the meeting that the Gardai were confident they had the resources and manpower to maintain an adequate presence in all areas of the county.[private] â€Å“A building itself never policed an area,â€Â she said, adding it was the Gardai out and about rather than sitting in stations that was at the basis of the modern policing of rural and isolated areas. She also tried to allay fears that the force in Co Galway would be seriously depleted because of retiring members not being replaced as a result of the recruitment embargo. She said the age profile of the force in Galway didnâ€â„¢t support the argument that retirement would have a detrimental impact on the service the Gardai provide. On the topical issue of raids on rural homes, she defended the Gardaiâ€â„¢s record in this area, arguing the methods they adopted were working well. These include closer coordination, frequent checkpoints and intelligence-led investigations. Supt Skehill added that the common belief that the motorways made life easy for mobile gangs did not bear close scrutiny. Because the motorways were easier to monitor and there were cameras at toll stations, criminals tended to avoid them and take the lesser used back roads instead. She also defended the much criticised use of vanettes by Gardai, stating that they were practical and four prisoners could fit in the back while two officers could travel in front. There are vanettes operating out of Tuam, Loughrea and Ballinasloe and she had received favourable comments on them. However, Cllr Jim Cuddy, a former Garda, disagreed with her on the policing of rural areas. He said people felt more comfortable dealing with their own Garda based in their area. He had heard of a case where Gardai had travelled out from Galway city to a rural area and didnâ€â„¢t know where they were when they arrived, and none of the people there knew them. But Supt Skehill insisted that the policy of closing down underused rural Garda stations and switching the focus to more visible patrols as well as to liaising with communities, was a more effective way of policing than having a Garda in a small station for a few hours a week. She instanced the case of Kiltullagh station. The Garda there has moved to Athenry but he and his colleagues will still be policing the Kiltullagh area as part of their duties. She added that many of the stations that people were expressing concern about had already been closed or were used on an infrequent basis.[/private]