Has no one learned the lessons of the past.
I reminded myself that 25 years ago I submitted a dissertation for a MSc degree in Public Order Studies with the subject area being policing in Dublins North and South Inner cities. Reading the paper now its like an "Eureka Moment", How come no one in Government or in the Commissioners Office has been following the steady decline in the Policing Model since 2019. This is a country wide phenomenon but the particular focus on Dublin is very relevant. The current knee jerk is to throw money at Overtime and do walkabouts forgetting all the while that you are in charge and your responsibility is to monitor the Red Flags before a Tipping point like the dreadful assault on the American Tourist. Of course Overtime Payment is necessary but how come you were not on the ball long before the Tipping Point. Oh by the way I mean Minister and Commissioner.
A Short Extract from 1998
A STUDY OF POLICING STRATEGY IN THE CITY OF DUBLIN WITH REGARD
TO PUBLIC ORDER MAINTENANCE AND THE INFLUENCE OF POLICING
SPECIALISATION AND PRIORITISATION.
This paper examines policing strategy in Dublin’s Inner City from the perspective of a
serving senior police officer in the Garda Síochána and with a methodological approach
intended to minimise reflexivity. It critically researches key questions concerning the
response by the police to issues of crime and disorder. It also charts the relationship between
the police and other agencies and the community at large. In direct terms this dissertation is
fundamentally about establishing the view from within the police organisation. The paper
seeks to examine and explain but it does not seek to justify any particular police approach.
The undertaking of empirical research facilitated this process. A great deal of new
information was established and this has a particular unique value in that this kind of study
has not been attempted before. The findings are specific to the area and time of study. An
analysis of these findings was aided by a consideration of the theoretical works of various
authorities and comparisons, contrasts and conclusions were informed by this process. The
context for the study was one where there have been few incidents of major disorder in this
area but quite a sustained history of low intensity conflict against a background of social
exclusion. The police responded to the research undertaken by exhibiting a homogenous
reaction in practically all areas. This finding refuted a main hypothesis, which was that
officers would respond very differently and in accordance with their respective positions
particularly specialisation. Crime Fighting appeared to be the preferred policing option with a
more ambiguous approach to Community Relations and Peace Keeping. This is manifested in the structural features of the organisation rather than in the policy statements of senior
officers.
SO WHAT HAS CHANGED IN THE PAST 25 YEARS, HAVE LESSONS BEEN LEARNED, HAVE STRATEGIES EVOLVED......................YOUR VIEWS PLEASE
In attitude terms the Police believe that they are carrying the burden for other agencies and they have a mission to keep the Disorderly and Criminal Classes in their place. They also observe that the public at large does not appreciate how difficult their job really is. The attitude to the community is less easy to gauge definitively although it is abundantly clear that the vast majority of officers would not want to live in the area where they work. There is probably a generic view or a paradigm which in general terms tends to divide the Inner City community into two groups, those who are policed and those on whose behalf the policing is administered. The overwhelming majority of officers maintained that they enjoyed considerable job satisfaction and that good discipline was a necessary ingredient in maintaining public confidence. The source of their job satisfaction is not easily identified when one considers the overall negative sentiments displayed and it may well be that the view of Skolnick (1970:49), quoted in Critcher and Waddington, 1996:178 who identified three formative influences on the working personality of the urban police officer as danger, authority and results. The organisation appears to have selected crime fighting as its primary mission. According to its own reckoning it has continually succeeded in this area. Therefore officers may not feel same need for approval or for assistance from outside bodies with the exception of the media.
The conclusions reached in this research are specific to the geographic and specialist areas studied. They are not intended to applicable to the remainder of the force. The conclusions are founded on the basis of research activity undertaken according to appropriate standards particularly the survey questionnaire. The process was aided in terms of access by the researcher senior position within the service and his ethnographic knowledge of the surveyed area.