Take the police men away from the ex Taoiseach’s and let them look after the elderly
The ex Taoiseach’s have enough money to pay for their own security out of their pensions

The punishment for crimes on the elderly should be so severe as its getting out of control.

If they shut down all the “cash for gold” shops, burglaries will drop very very quickly.

I was told by a gardai that they went up 800% in my area when one opened nearby!

They closed the head shops pretty quickly when it was an embarrassment for a judge……but when us common folk are being beaten and robbed…….it takes years of discussion……..

There you go Mr Shatter – Do something about it and make them feel safer. While you are at it put a heavy police presence in city centres , I rarely see a guard on the streets esp at night in Dublin.

Alan Shatter you are a complete joke as the minister for justice, what would a posh boy like you know about the reality of crime? This ministerial role should be for an experienced hardline garda.

Just older people? I think there’s more than the elderly frightened…. !

When I was a lad my da and a couple other men from our estate used to walk around the area making sure no one in our area came to harm, have a cup of tea in each others houses and that then do one last lap of the estate when most were in their beds. Maybe an hour or so most nights. Neighbourhood watch kind of thing, plus other neighbours would join in if a couple couldn’t make it. A shout through an oap s letter box, hi ye Mary made them and everyone feel safe. I grew up in a decent estate but even better cos everyone felt safe and bonded doesn’t happen today.. Bring it back. Knock on a door ask a pal and I bet in a week it would be a tight knit community.

Older people should receive an allowance for the upkeep of a dog – great protection and and also good company. Living in a country village without a Garda presence is the norm – it is the attitude of the bastards who prey on the old that has altered.
Punishment should suit the crime and prison should be punishment not a home from home.

If any town or townland organised a commitee of vigilantes, they would be swamped with gardai in a week.

Anyone who attacks and robs an O.A.P. doesn’t deserve any civil rights or rehabilitation .

Put them down permanently!

Absolute shame on you Shatter and an absolute shame on this bunch of wasters in government. What sort of society has their elderly living in fear so they can please their euro bosses by paying unsecured bonds to faceless bankers. Shame on you.

The fact of the matter is this…. During the Celtic Tiger the government squandered loads of money, they paid themselves outrageous salaries and they have and given themselves outrageous pensions all the while the voters of this nation sat by and watched. The Celtic Tiger has ended and little has changed, except that voters are loosing services (ex. garda hiring freeze, closing of gardi stations). The government is still top heavy. Politician s continue to pay themselves huge salaries and pensions agreements are still being honored (does Bertie deserve his pension?).

Come on… What does it take for the Irish people to say enough is enough and force change? When will you organize yourselves and fight for honesty, integrity and transparency? How many victims do there need to before the ROI as a cohesive unit of voters organize and confront the old vanguard and systems?

You want the Troika to leave… How can they leave? We can’t govern ourselves. We are unable to sustain ourselves financially.

Seamus, An Garda Síochána’s own unions have expressed their concerns at fewer beat Gardaí in certain areas, and they are in the process of augmenting this diminished presence with community-based measures, but these are still at pilot stage.

The Gardaí are trying to police smarter, and they’re doing the best they can with more limited resources, but there are fewer community liaison Gardaí and fewer Gardaí on regular foot patrol and drive-by in many areas. There are certainly plenty of able and willing officers ready to respond to crime, but proactive policing has taken a massive hit.

SOLUTION:

About 20 years ago, the city where I’m from in the states had the same problem that we are now faced. Less funding, too many police officers working in admininstration and too many police officers in police cars. They found that the way of doing business was not effective.

As a result, they “did” close police stations, they froze police recruitment, they redeployed police officers and the brought in the new concept of Community Oriented Policing. What is Community Oriented Policing?

Community policing is a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies, which support the systematic use of partnerships and problem-solving techniques, to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime.

Community Partnerships
Collaborative partnerships between the law enforcement agency and the individuals and organizations they serve to develop solutions to problems and increase trust in police.
◦Other Government Agencies
◦Community Members/Groups
◦Nonprofits/Service Providers
◦Private Businesses
◦Media

•Organizational Transformation
The alignment of organizational management, structure, personnel, and information systems to support community partnerships and proactive problem solving.

Agency Management
◦Climate and culture
◦Leadership
◦Labor relations
◦Decision-making
◦Strategic planning
◦Policies
◦Organizational evaluations
◦Transparency
◦Organizational Structure
Geographic assignment of officers
◦Despecialization
◦Resources and finances
Personnel
◦Recruitment, hiring, and selection
◦Personnel supervision/evaluations
◦Training
Information Systems (Technology)
◦Communication/access to data
◦Quality and accuracy of data

•Problem Solving
The process of engaging in the proactive and systematic examination of identified problems to develop and rigorously evaluate effective responses.
◦Scanning: Identifying and prioritizing problems
◦Analysis: Researching what is known about the problem
◦Response: Developing solutions to bring about lasting reductions in the number and extent of problems
◦Assessment: Evaluating the success of the responses
◦Using the crime triangle to focus on immediate conditions (victim/offender/location)

In essence, Community Oriented Policing puts police back on the streets, walking up and down streets, getting to know neighbours by name, helping with loca\community events out of uniform, adopting a community and allowing more visability.

Once the neighbourhood and the police realized the benefits of working together for the betterment of the community. The community changed almost over night. Crime of all sorts decreased by double digit percentages.

The question is… Why hasn’t this concept\philosophy been introduced to Ireland? I know they know about this concept\philosphy. If they don’t then there is a huge problem i our police force.

The more fearful the elderly become, the more likely they will move to retirement homes. Privately owned ones. The very ones which TDs and their families invest in.

We all have to make sacrifices so that our Lords and Masters can live in comfort and privilege.

. It means that the elderly will not live with reasonable security, they will receive inadequate care and support and receive no dignity.

Our Government and senior civil servants, including to ranks of an Garda Siochana receive wonderful salaries and will have munificent pensions. That is the clear priority policy.

i bet their plenty garda where td live

What a load of hysteria.

Many of the stations being closed were already mothballed.

I live in a rural area whose Garda station is still open. I have no idea who the Gardai are or when the barracks is open: neither do my neighbours. If we needed police we would call the county town.

While I have every sympathy for this women she was robbed a month before hand and yet again she kept a considerable amount of cash at home! That’s just stupid put it in a bank and stop making yourself a target!

Maureen Kavanagh of Active Retirement Ireland does raise some very serious concerns, and indeed the attack on an innocent 96 year old woman is absolutely disgraceful. But there is a lot of misinformation allowed in this article by the journal.ie. A simple call to the Department of Justice or the Garda Press Office would have provided a fact based response on some of the issues raised. For instance Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan has consistently stated in his opinion that there would be no diminution of service by An Garda Síochána. In fact with the centralisation of services, reformed rosters and a new patrol system there will be increased visibility of Gardai in communities and more patrol hours. Thus more Gardai on the beat and greater flexibility to respond.
Having a vast network of stations is not keeping with current times, many of the current stations have been in operation since before the foundation of the state. It is much more beneficial in these days to have gardai patrolling communities in vehicles as opposed to occupying buildings relying on a few visitors a day. As an example for a city region Dublin has around 40 24 hour Garda Stations while Greater Manchester of similar size has 13. Being close to a station has shown to be no advantage in regards to crime prevention as shown by the attack last year in Sligo. A changed policing model means more gardai on the streets of the cities and roads of rural Ireland.