More gardaí needed in Cobh
There's a growing demand for increased police presence on the streets of Cobh in response to anti-social incidents that have occurred in recent months.
Last month, a father of two, Seán Feeney died at the age of 29, after suffering a heart attack in the Ballyvoloon/Hilltop Park area of Cobh.
Speaking to Neil Prendeville on RedFM, Sean’s partner Sam Byrne said he suffered cardiac arrest while chasing a gang of youths that were “terrorising” her neighbourhood, and advocated for more stringent laws to address anti-social behaviour.
According to CSO figures, there has been a 30 per cent rise in public order incidents in Cobh, with the recorded number reaching 68 in 2022, up from 45 in the previous year.
The recorded incidents of theft has more than doubled, up from 18 in 2021 to 49 in 2022.
There were also 50 recorded incidents involving assaults, harassment, and related offences in Cobh in 2022, alongside 25 cases of property and environment damage.
Cllr Cathal Rasmussen, who is the chair of the Cork County Joint Policing Commitee, says that while there isn't enough garda visibility on the streets of Cobh, there is insufficient resources available.
“Anti-social behaviour is definitely on the increase. You don’t see guards on the beat in Cobh, you never do,” he told the Cork Independent.
“I’m not taking away from the work that the guards do; they do a tremendous job under very difficult circumstances but they don’t have the resources or the numbers,” he said.
“I’ve raised it at the highest level, and their answer is always ‘If we get them, you’ll get them’. That’s the reality of it,” he said.
The garda station in Cobh, which was built two decades ago, was intended for 40 personnel, comprising a superintendent, an inspector, four sergeants, and approximately 30 gardaí.
According to Cllr Rasmussen, there are now just 16 gardaí at the station working across four teams of four people, known as units, whose resources are stretched to the limit. “We used to have 8 or 10 guards in a unit,” he said.
A major issue he also identified is in the area of community policing which traditionally has been central to the ethos of the organisation. “Our community guard is out sick at the moment,” said Rasmussen.
“I think one of the issues is that senior management don’t have the time for community guards. Yes they have to have them because it ticks a box but in reality are they really happy with them?
"These days the way it’s working, because they are so short of people, the community guards are part of the units. So the community guard has to go out and do the day-to-day mundane work, traffic stops and tickets, all that kind of stuff,” he added.
He also pointed out that there is an insufficient number of new recruits being enlisted to replace the departing members of the force.
“My understanding is that there are 300 guards retiring this year, but there will be less than 300 going into the gardaí. That’s part of the problem. When guards have retired they replace some of them, but not all,” he said.
Meanwhile, the first day of action by gardaí took place on Tuesday of this week. The dispute centres around garda rostering changes, and the action will see them decline to work voluntary overtime on the five Tuesdays in October – which will include Halloween and Budget Day.