And this is all just my opinion, and does not represent the views of AGS as an organization.



Quote: enda1 Originally Posted by Hi, thanks for doing this AMA.



What is the best and worst part of the job?



Worst: For me, the lack of acknowledgement of having done a good job. Yes, it is our job to investigate, and we shouldn't be thanked for that. But if we go over and above, which we do on nearly every case, a small acknowledgement wouldn't go astray. To give a quick example, myself and a couple of colleagues saved 6 people from a building on fire. They were all asleep. A similar incident happened in another part of the country, and those members got medals (we're not supposed to go into burning buildings). We got given out to. It's inconsistent across the force, and while efforts are being made to rectify that, it was too little too late in my case.



Quote: D0NNELLY Originally Posted by approx how long have you been serving?

is it what you thought it would be like?



Quote: GLaDOS Originally Posted by Have you ever been assaulted on the job?



Have you ever witnessed anything that could be described as corruption in the force?



Corruption: A dodgy one to answer on here. There is corruption in every job in every walk of life. The deli worker stealing a sausage, painters doing nixxers for the friends, all these are very slight examples of corruption within those sectors. Is cancelling a ticket corruption? According to the media and a lot of the public, yes. But, I've never cancelled a ticket, because even before the whole ticket "scandal" no one below the rank of inspector could cancel them. So I've never witnessed the actual act of having tickets cancelled. I've known of a few, one I issued personally to a GAA star. But that's the most I've personally witnessed. I've heard the stories, but I've never been part of anything like that (the reasons for all the tribunals). I was based somewhere far away from all that, so again, this is my opinion, I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but I've not witnessed anything, thankfully.



Quote: ads20101 Originally Posted by Are you concerned about the increase in gun use amongst the criminal fraternity, and do you feel that policing in Ireland would be safer if the Guards were armed themselves?



As for the arming. Historically, AGS is lauded for being an unarmed police force. According to some reports, we're the second best police force in the world, and this is mainly due to unarmed policing (Iceland getting the No. 1 spot). Changing this would radically change the force as a whole. I think we definitely need more armed Gardaí, but it can't come from the current workforce without them being replaced. I don't think we need more routinely armed Gardaí, but we definitely need more armed response.



Quote: The Backwards Man Originally Posted by If you were in hot pursuit and the Duke boys jumped a creek would you try and jump it too?



Quote: sullivlo Originally Posted by 1: Are you stationed near where you grew up or are you close by?



2: Are there any things that you would change about the role?



3: Would you like to be armed?



4: If you had to choose another member of the emergency service to be a part of, which would you choose?



5: Do you have the power to stop a cyclist who breaks red lights?



Thanks for this btw - it should be super interesting!



2: I would like to see members acknowledged more for their work. The job has changed dramatically, and it's an extremely thankless job. It's amazing how a little "well done" can keep your spirits up. Start there, get more Gardaí on the street, and it'll be a good start, but still a long ways to go.



3: Personally, I think I would feel safer if I was armed. I have a respect for firearms. I had 5+ years in the FCA/RDF which included 2 promotions, so I know my way around most of them. I know a few Gardaí who hate guns, and would never want to be armed. The force is a long way away from routinely armed Gardaí. Tazers though, they should be standard at this stage.



4: The army. Should have just continued with my FCA career. Plus, I would have had half my service done at this stage! Outside of the army, I don't think i'd want to be in any other frontline emergency role. They're all very thankless, and the work of paramedics, firemen/women, doctors, nurses, as tough as my job was, theirs is very different, and I couldn't even imagine myself doing what they do.



5: Yes, we do. But realistically, if it does happen, it's usually when the patrol car is on the way to another call. It's then a game of which is more serious, the call or the cyclist. This is one of the hard parts of the job. Continue on to the person who probably has already been waiting over an hour, or stop this cyclist and potentially be another half hour dealing with them (you'd be surprised by how long a simple traffic stop can take). It all boils back down to numbers, and the force simple doesn't have enough at the moment for to be able to do everything.



Quote: bubblypop Originally Posted by What rank are you?

How much service have you?

Are you attached to the regular or specialist unit?



Quote: Gregorym2 Originally Posted by can you speak Irish?



Quote: EndaHonesty Originally Posted by How long have you been a Garda?



Quote: IamtheWalrus Originally Posted by Have you witnessed any sexism in the force?



Quote: ED E Originally Posted by Is it a common opinion/MO among rank and.file Gardai that minor traffic offences are not worth the time? Do any gardai believe in broken window theory for our roads?



What would you say to the idea of removing garda discretion (you witness an offence you must act)?



Quote: Usernemises Originally Posted by Is Nepotism still as bad as it used to be? My cousin is a garda and he told me a few years ago not to bother applying unless I knew a high ranking garda or a td, surely he was joking.



Quote: Usernemises Originally Posted by Also do you think drugs should be legalised? How much of your time is spent dealing with drug dealers/ users



I haven't personally spent a lot of time investigating drugs offences. I've done my share, but it wasn't a weekly thing for me. The drugs units were always busy though. Sometimes we'd be required to assist with searches, and it's mainly cannabis. But I think the harder drugs should be the focus, and legalizing cannabis would take a large chunk out of criminals income. It's nearly their bread and butter. People will continue to use cannabis regardless, and legalizing it would not only take it out of the dealers hands, but it would make it safer in general to consume. And people call it a gateway drug, well, that's only because in order to get it, you need to go to a drug dealer, who usually knows someone who can get the harder stuff. You wouldn't get that in dispensaries.



Quote: Lisha Originally Posted by 1: Do you find it upsetting/disheartening/disgusting when a conviction fails to secure a proper sentence? Do you ever feel left down by the judiciary?



2: What do you think should happen to people with 40+ convictions ?



3: Does prison offer any rehabilitation at all?



4: What advice would you give parents of teens to keep them on the straight And narrow ?



I seriously don't know how how ye do the job, especially when yere pay and conditions are less than ideal.

Thank you for all that you do .



2: I personally believe that they've more than had their chance. I don't think anyone with even 10 convictions should be walking the streets. That's the problem today, overcrowding in prisons means it's impossible to put away everyone who commits an indictable crime. This country badly needs another prisoner. Preferably reopen Spike Island and leave it for the most dangerous ones. Keep the other prisoners free them for repeat "non-violent" offenders (ie: burglars). Criminals know that the likelihood of being sent down for any decent amount of time is unlikely (depending on the crime). Nearly all the repeat offenders know this, and this keeps them repeating in my opinion.



3: I genuinely don't know. The job is unique in so far as if someone stops committing crime, we don't hear from them anymore. It's hard to tell if life decisions or prison caused that. I do believe we should be looking to other countries and how they rehabilitate, but our issue first is that there is still no deterrent.



4: That's a hard one. I don't have kids of my own, so it's hard to tell someone who does what to do. It often gets thrown back at me when parents find out, because they think I don't know what i'm talking about. Any maybe I don't. I can only give advice from what I've seen, and I think it boils down to time. I believe that some parents are not spending enough time with their children, for a number of reasons. Daily dinner was a family event in my house growing up, and I believe that helps create a bond which children are less likely to break, as they care. But try and tell that to Mary with 3 criminal sons who genuinely doesn't know what to do. I find those situations very hard, I'm not a counsellor or psychologist, even though the job expects us to be... There is no hard fast answer to that, every situation requires a different approach. But maybe, get more involved in their lives, and see what drives them.



Quote: The flying mouse Originally Posted by Are there any nogo areas in Ireland for the guards, or at least areas where you would not be welcome.



Halting sites.

Ballyfermot.

some parts of finglas.

southill,

inner cities

moyross



Quote: dulpit Originally Posted by Hey,



I've heard loads of stories about "police brutality", or stories of how people were "clobbered" after being arrested. But I know a small number of guards and they don't strike me as being that sort of person. Does it happen in your experience?



When they changed the rules for entry, smaller Guards was now a thing. Obviously, they would be less likely to be like the older Guards because they simply may not have the strength. But the "brutality" days are long gone, PC policing is the norm now.



Quote: The flying mouse Originally Posted by Does community policing work ?



how would you better use the guards in improving relationships in said communities as its more or less the same areas same communities that seems where a lot of the gangs/trouble/no respect come from, Thanks.



Quote: The flying mouse Originally Posted by When I was growing up getting (70s80s)a few scalps of a guard was a normal part of life, Didn't do me any harm.





Would you think a few scalps nowadays would be better in dealing with some of the youngsters nowadays than bringing them through the courts ?



Quote: Blatter Originally Posted by What loophole within the law frustrates you the most to see people taking advantage of?



Or another way of phrasing the question: What is the most common type of circumstance you come across where you feel you should be able to take action but your hands are tied and you're powerless to do anything? Just to clarify first, I am no longer a serving member, having resigned in the last few months for a number of reasons. I'm doing this AMA to hopefully give people a better understanding that members of AGS are just people too. And sorry to bold this, but:Best Part: Simply, the colleagues. I have made some really strong friendships, and in a job like this, you need not just colleagues beside you, you need friends who will do anything to help protect you.Worst: For me, the lack of acknowledgement of having done a good job. Yes, it is our job to investigate, and we shouldn't be thanked for that. But if we go over and above, which we do on nearly every case, a small acknowledgement wouldn't go astray. To give a quick example, myself and a couple of colleagues saved 6 people from a building on fire. They were all asleep. A similar incident happened in another part of the country, and those members got medals (we're not supposed to go into burning buildings). We got given out to. It's inconsistent across the force, and while efforts are being made to rectify that, it was too little too late in my case.I had done under 10 years. It's already a very different job to when I joined, and the now retired members say that it's a shadow of what it formally was, for better and for worse. I honestly did not know what it was like. No one ever prepared me for the amount of paperwork. Stupidly, I thought it might have been something like on tv, investigating, catching the bad guys and sending them to jail. It's a lot more formal. The rules and law can be stifling, hindering and sometimes just doesn't work. No time to investigate but increased workloads are the issues here now. A simple straight forward burglary file can take months to fully investigate now because the time is no longer there.Assaulted: Yes. A few times. Thankfully, nothing too serious. But the lack of prosecution under the correct law is a factor in my decision to leave. There's a very specific section for assaults on members of emergency personnel. Section 19 of the Public Order Act, but it rarely gets used for some unknown reason.Corruption: A dodgy one to answer on here. There is corruption in every job in every walk of life. The deli worker stealing a sausage, painters doing nixxers for the friends, all these are very slight examples of corruption within those sectors. Is cancelling a ticket corruption? According to the media and a lot of the public, yes. But, I've never cancelled a ticket, because even before the whole ticket "scandal" no one below the rank of inspector could cancel them. So I've never witnessed the actual act of having tickets cancelled. I've known of a few, one I issued personally to a GAA star. But that's the most I've personally witnessed. I've heard the stories, but I've never been part of anything like that (the reasons for all the tribunals). I was based somewhere far away from all that, so again, this is my opinion, I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but I've not witnessed anything, thankfully.Definitely concerned. No one ever expected something like what happened to D/Gda Donohue. I didn't know him personally, or even have heard of him prior to that incident. But it genuinely hit me hard. It's a strange feeling, one you only get in jobs like these where someone who does the same job as you, but whom you don't know, gets brutally murdered in the line of duty. You feel for him, his family, friends and colleagues like you don't for others. It sent the reality of the job to the forefront of my mind, and I shed some tears. The reality that it could have been me, as it was just so random and unexpected, it left a scar. It made me way more cautious, and I can understand why the American police are so trigger happy. If gun crime was a rife here, i'd definitely be cautious the whole time, knowing that this simple traffic stop could be the end.As for the arming. Historically, AGS is lauded for being an unarmed police force. According to some reports, we're the second best police force in the world, and this is mainly due to unarmed policing (Iceland getting the No. 1 spot). Changing this would radically change the force as a whole. I think we definitely need more armed Gardaí, but it can't come from the current workforce without them being replaced. I don't think we need more routinely armed Gardaí, but we definitely need more armed response.Good question! I'd chance it in an Avensis or Mondeo, not in a Hyundai though.... it would probably tear apart mid air!1: I was at least 2 hours away, another part of my decision to leave.2: I would like to see members acknowledged more for their work. The job has changed dramatically, and it's an extremely thankless job. It's amazing how a little "well done" can keep your spirits up. Start there, get more Gardaí on the street, and it'll be a good start, but still a long ways to go.3: Personally, I think I would feel safer if I was armed. I have a respect for firearms. I had 5+ years in the FCA/RDF which included 2 promotions, so I know my way around most of them. I know a few Gardaí who hate guns, and would never want to be armed. The force is a long way away from routinely armed Gardaí. Tazers though, they should be standard at this stage.4: The army. Should have just continued with my FCA career. Plus, I would have had half my service done at this stage! Outside of the army, I don't think i'd want to be in any other frontline emergency role. They're all very thankless, and the work of paramedics, firemen/women, doctors, nurses, as tough as my job was, theirs is very different, and I couldn't even imagine myself doing what they do.5: Yes, we do. But realistically, if it does happen, it's usually when the patrol car is on the way to another call. It's then a game of which is more serious, the call or the cyclist. This is one of the hard parts of the job. Continue on to the person who probably has already been waiting over an hour, or stop this cyclist and potentially be another half hour dealing with them (you'd be surprised by how long a simple traffic stop can take). It all boils back down to numbers, and the force simple doesn't have enough at the moment for to be able to do everything.Nearly 10 years, Garda rank, regular.I'd know a few words, but in general, no. I could hold a very basic conversation, but i'd be useless in the Gaeltacht. Unsurprisingly, those with excellent Irish skills are usually sent to those areas anyway, and more who are sent there would be from near there. I don't see the need for it. If someone wishes to exercise their right to be spoken to in Irish, there are procedures in place for that.Nearly 10 years.Roughly the same amount I experience in every day life. It used to be a thing (apparently). It wasn't when I joined. Women were already well established in the force. There were always the die hards who still think they shouldn't be in the job, for numerous reasons both understandable and down right wrong. But I haven't witnessed any blatant sexism towards any group. Bad taste jokes though, well, they're nearly a staple of the job!It's not that their not worth the time, it's a juggle of time. I can guarantee you that every frontline Garda has a large number of investigations to do. The new recruits can't believe how busy it is, and while for the last 5 years it's become the norm, the introduction of the newbies and their genuine shock at the amount of files one can get in even just 1 day reminds us how busy we are. I can't just come out and say that work is ignored. I wouldn't anyway. But is there a juggling act? Yes. Time, like pens, are precious in AGS. Victimless crimes can be at the bottom of the decision making. But crimes with victims should be investigated. The newbies are making a change to that. They want to look good for management, so they will usually jump on anything they witness.It is known among Gardaí that those with "pull" will usually get what they want over someone with no "pull". I've seen it. It sucks. It's wrong and it shouldn't happen, but it's not rampant (well, in my region anyway). I'm the first in my family in the Guards. I didn't know anyone in the job prior to that. Maybe having that pull might have changed the outcome of my situation. But I think it's becoming a thing of the past. Transfers and the like are now being handled by civilians. This should stop all that for transfers anyway (where it mainly happens).Just to reiterate, this is my personal opinion (now as a civilian). Some drugs should be legalized. I believe we should be following our European counterparts and at least legalise cannabis. Not only would it stop the rampant illegal cannabis trade, the medicinal sides of it cannot be ignored at this stage. There is a lot of effort put into cannabis crackdown, and I think that time could be better spent elsewhere. Cannabis, heroin and I think something else was supposed to be decriminalized this year. That's a start.I haven't personally spent a lot of time investigating drugs offences. I've done my share, but it wasn't a weekly thing for me. The drugs units were always busy though. Sometimes we'd be required to assist with searches, and it's mainly cannabis. But I think the harder drugs should be the focus, and legalizing cannabis would take a large chunk out of criminals income. It's nearly their bread and butter. People will continue to use cannabis regardless, and legalizing it would not only take it out of the dealers hands, but it would make it safer in general to consume. And people call it a gateway drug, well, that's only because in order to get it, you need to go to a drug dealer, who usually knows someone who can get the harder stuff. You wouldn't get that in dispensaries.1: All three. It was a major factor in my decision to leave. A lot of members will tell you, your job is to get them to court, you shouldn't care after that. But it hit home early in my career where we brought a convicted burglar to prison. Numerous convictions, mostly for burglary. We dropped him off a the prison, and made our way back to our own District, a few hours away. As we were driving back in, there's pal walking back from the train station. That hurt. All the effort of numerous Gardaí gone to waste because there's no room for "low risk" (yeah...) offenders who then get released on bail. It really put me off the job. But mainly it put me off when colleagues who had been assaulted get no outcome.2: I personally believe that they've more than had their chance. I don't think anyone with even 10 convictions should be walking the streets. That's the problem today, overcrowding in prisons means it's impossible to put away everyone who commits an indictable crime. This country badly needs another prisoner. Preferably reopen Spike Island and leave it for the most dangerous ones. Keep the other prisoners free them for repeat "non-violent" offenders (ie: burglars). Criminals know that the likelihood of being sent down for any decent amount of time is unlikely (depending on the crime). Nearly all the repeat offenders know this, and this keeps them repeating in my opinion.3: I genuinely don't know. The job is unique in so far as if someone stops committing crime, we don't hear from them anymore. It's hard to tell if life decisions or prison caused that. I do believe we should be looking to other countries and how they rehabilitate, but our issue first is that there is still no deterrent.4: That's a hard one. I don't have kids of my own, so it's hard to tell someone who does what to do. It often gets thrown back at me when parents find out, because they think I don't know what i'm talking about. Any maybe I don't. I can only give advice from what I've seen, and I think it boils down to time. I believe that some parents are not spending enough time with their children, for a number of reasons. Daily dinner was a family event in my house growing up, and I believe that helps create a bond which children are less likely to break, as they care. But try and tell that to Mary with 3 criminal sons who genuinely doesn't know what to do. I find those situations very hard, I'm not a counsellor or psychologist, even though the job expects us to be... There is no hard fast answer to that, every situation requires a different approach. But maybe, get more involved in their lives, and see what drives them.There's no such thing as a no go area, but there are certainly areas you wouldn't go by yourself. Halting sites, depending on the occupants, I wouldn't have gone by myself, or even without at least 3 colleagues. I'm not generalizing, but if they're a "good" traveler, we don't deal with them. And that's just an example, the most obvious one to me. There are others areas where you wouldn't go without backup, but it varies from division to division, so I can't say in general this is the way it is. And to be honest, we're not welcome most places. I was involved in a situation where 4 patrol cars were being bottled and hit by rocks while driving through an estate. A prolonged crackdown stopped that quickly enough.I've heard the stories. The job has changed dramatically over the last 15 years. It was a time when the local Garda would clobber the criminal, and while it was wrong, it did appear effective at the time. And around the time of my parents being in school, corporal punishment seemed to be the norm. my mother had a bamboo pole broke off her arm in school, but that was the way it was then. The same appeared to carry through to the Gardaí. It was wrong, no doubt, but it is a thought that crosses my mind throughout the years that a good hammering would sort pal out. But it probably wouldn't. I say probably, because I know of one ex-Garda who was thanked by an up-until-then career criminal whom that Garda hammered while coming out of a house that pal broke into one night. That lad said the beating changed his life for the better. It's hard to call. Some criminals seem to only understand beatings, because that's the way they were brought up. It's hard to use the PC softly softly approach on them. And with the popularity and abundance of camera phones around, every Garda is second guessing their actions, because they don't want to be the next Garda investigated for "brutality". It's a fine line between use of force and assault, and with hindsight, that line moves.When they changed the rules for entry, smaller Guards was now a thing. Obviously, they would be less likely to be like the older Guards because they simply may not have the strength. But the "brutality" days are long gone, PC policing is the norm now.Yes, CP does work. But it only works when there's sufficient resources available. CP became the backbone of the Gardaí when it was introduced, because the Guards were moving away from "the local Garda" to increased numbers and less personalization. This was due to an increase in population. There was a time that the local Garda would know everyone in the town. Now, towns are too big for that, and rural communities are being left without a Garda because of a reduction in numbers. It's creeping back, but will take years to get back to what it was. It's all down to money. Back pre-recession, the money and numbers were there, but both are gone so CP - which spent it's time between investigation and involvement - was decimated as the numbers were more urgently needed to investigate. Hopefully it goes the other way, as it does work. The Gardaí can make cases on the information of the locals alone. Without proper involvement with the community, they are less likely to trust us, and thus are less likely to pass on information. By engaging with these communities, they may assist more, knowing that the CP Gardaí actually do care about the communities (not just anyone gets picked to be in CP). it's all about trust, and unfortunately trust is easy to lose and hard to regain, and we're in the regain part right now.It appeared effective back then, and it was the norm in every authorative walk of life. Did I sometimes think that a few belts would be better suited? Yes. But I didn't act on it, as much as one would want to. It's not worth taking the chance of being sent to jail for giving a career criminal a few belts. The courts system needs a radical overhaul in my opinion, I don't think it's working. But I believe that would all start with a new prison. The courts can't send people to prison if there's no room.Good question. There's a lot of the law that frustrates me. But to be specific to your question, it's in court. It's when pal gets his solicitor to give the sob back-story, which you know to be bull, but you can't say anything. it's when pal is being described as someone with low self esteem due to a "bad upbringing", when you know he's laughing his ar$e off at us. To quote the magnificent The Young Offenders: "It's like they don't think our brains are developed enough or something". "Spastics". The law is too soft on someone with a sob story. Nothing excuses breaking the law. If someone broke into my house, or assaulted me, I couldn't give 2 continental f's that he had a bad upbringing. That doesn't excuse robbing my stuff or boxing me in the face. But, as you said, we're powerless when it comes to this part. We know the facts, but we can't say anything at that stage, as the case is over.