People at Night, are Scared, to Walk down, O Connell Street, Irelands Capital City, Shameful.

# crime in the capital

Weekly reviews of areas ‘prone to anti-social behaviour’ to take place under new crime action plan

The Garda Air Support Unit and the Garda Mounted Unit will be deployed to Dublin City Centre to enhance Garda visibility.

DAILY AND WEEKLY reviews will be conducted of areas that are ‘prone to anti-social behaviour’, under a new action plan agreed between the government and the Garda Commissioner.

The findings of each review will inform future operational plans to tackle crime in the capital.

In a meeting today, the Taoiseach, the Minister for Justice and the Garda Commissioner also decided to deploy the Garda Air Support Unit and the Garda Mounted Unit to Dublin City Centre to enhance Garda visibility there.

Other national resources such as the Garda Dog Unit and Roads Policing Unit may be used as well. 

The Journal understands that issues discussed at the meeting included garda recruitment levels, the national opening of community safety partnerships, the deployment of bodycams and the upcoming budget.

It was agreed that a pilot scheme of bodycams for gardaí should get under way, to protect those on the front line. 

Justice Minister Helen McEntee said that the roll out of community safety partnerships nationwide is a ‘vital’ part of making communities safer. The partnerships aim to develop action plans to tackle crime locally and may make recommendations on CCTV surveillance, youth services, public lighting, litter, drugs, and more.

It is understood the the Minister will announce funding for these partnerships in the coming weeks.

It comes after the announcement that an emergency extra €10m will be given to the gardaí to pay for overtime on Dublin’s streets. 

The Journal revealed last week that more than 500 calls for help from the public to Dublin’s Garda central control centre had not been responded to at one point last Tuesday evening because there were not enough gardaí available.

A log of contacts to the Garda emergency line showed that some callers experienced lengthy waits for a call taker to answer the phone in June, with one individual left on hold for more than 17 minutes on one occasion.

There has also been a series of robberies and attacks in the headlines recently, which has resulted in calls for more policing and better supports and services for young people living in the capital.