New Laois garda appointments in line with international best practice
Image for illustration purposes
THREE gardaí in Laois have been given new appointments as part of a restructuring process in line with the ‘Policing Service for the Future’ plan.
The following appointments, in line with the Garda Operating Model, in the Laois/Offaly Garda Division took effect from Sunday 23 February: Detective Superintendent Patrick O’Callaghan, Portlaoise Garda Station, with responsibility for Laois/Offaly Crime Functional Area; Supt Dermot Drea, Mountmellick Garda Station, with responsibility for Laois/Offaly Performance Assurance Functional Area; and Supt Declan Dunne, Portlaoise Garda Station, with responsibility for Laois Community Engagement Functional Area.
Under the new structure, each division in the country will be organised into four functional areas: community engagement, crime, performance assurance and business services.
The community engagement functional areas, led by a superintendent, will be responsible for frontline core policing.
The crime functional area, led by a detective superintendent, will be responsible for the most serious crime. Specialist units will be attached to this and will support community engagement.
The performance assurance functional area, led by a superintendent, will be responsible for governance, courts and so forth within the division. The specialist knowledge brought by this will allow the community engagement and crime superintendents and inspectors to focus on delivery of an operational service to the public The business services functional area, led by an assistant principal, will be staffed primarily by gardaí and will be responsible for finance (budget management), logistics, HR and administration.
The Garda Operating Model is being introduced as part of a Policing Service for the Future, which is the implementation plan based on the report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. This model is recommended by the both the Commission of the Future of Policing in Ireland and the Garda Inspectorate.
According to garda management, the restructure reflects international best practice as well as the realities of modern-day policing in Ireland, the changing nature of crime and population trends.
It included restructuring at national, regional and local levels to provide a greater focus on community policed-based on local needs. The new model introduces major changes to the structures of An Garda Síochána by providing a wider range of policing services for people in their local area.
It will particularly enhance the investigation of crime through the delivery of a greater range of specialised services in local areas, such as the investigation of sexual crime, domestic violence, cyber-crime and economic crime.
