GARDA MANAGEMENT HAVE said that they will have to engage with more British police forces to train the country’s 45 police driving instructors in pursuit tactics.

Assistant Commissioner Denis Ferry, who is the head of roads policing, and Chief Superintendent Brian Sugrue, the head of garda training, were appearing before the Oireachtas transport committee this morning. 

Ferry and Sugrue were there to discuss topics associated with road safety on the country’s motorway network, with particular focus on the force’s response to the deaths of five teenage boys while driving the wrong way on the M9 as they were trying to escape from gardaí. 

During a previous appearance at the Justice Committee on 15 September, the same garda managers admitted that they anticipate just six gardaí will be trained in pursuit training by the end of the year.  

This morning, TDs and senators questioned garda management about a range of topics related to the likelihood of pursuit training being rolled out by the end of the year, the use of TikTok and the broader work of roads policing units. 

Ferry and Sugrue, in response to questions from the committee chair Michael Murphy TD, both said the garda organisation was trying to increase capacity to train the trainers by contacting other police forces in Britain. 

The garda organisation had engaged with Devon and Cornwall police in Britain, but it has now been decided that An Garda Síochána will have to work with other British law enforcement organisations to help train the instructors in time. 

“We’re looking at their capacity as well to try and maximise their capability to look at training additional instructors as well.

“So that’s something that we haven’t formalised yet, but we’re hoping to do that through other police forces within the UK,” Ferry said.

He said that there was hope that by November enough garda instructors would be trained.

Sugrue outlined the nature of the course and said that it is hoped that at least some of the instructors will be fully trained in all the modules as set out by Devon and Cornwall. 

“I suppose it’s difficult to give an exact number because it’s dependent on interactions and agreements with another UK police force. Devon and Cornwall have committed to having a cohort trained by the end of the year. 

“With Devon and Cornwall, you’re talking about single figures, but we’re hoping that interaction with the other UK police forces will significantly increase that number,” he explained. 

There would be a need to train gardaí in basic pursuit tactics but then train a smaller number following that in more specialist tactics known as Tactical Pursuit and Containment or TPAC. This is where police officers stop a car by using specialist manoeuvres at speed. 

Sugrue outlined that for every six gardaí trained there was a need for three instructors. The officer reiterated that it was hoped that one course would be offered to gardaí by the end of the year, but none of the instructors have yet concluded the full training.

Assistant Commissioner Denis Ferry. Oireachtas.ie Oireachtas.ie

Roads policing numbers

During the hearing a number of TDs and senators repeatedly asked about the reduced numbers of gardaí who were assigned to dedicated road policing units.

The committee heard that currently there are 660, and Roderic O’Gorman said that this is a 40% decrease on what it was 15 years ago. 

About 4,500 gardaí are trained in driving to a standard whereby they can use blue lights and sirens when responding to a call.

Garda managers confirmed no garda is trained in pursuit techniques but stated that there were 1,000 gardaí trained in the use of stinger devices which stop a car by deflating the tyres. There are just 100 stinger devices in the force. 

Garda managers said that it is hoped to increase the number in Road Policing Units as the force climbs to a membership of 15,000. Recent numbers at the end of June show there were 14,555 gardaí.

Ferry was keen to stress that while increased numbers of the Roads Policing Unit would be welcome, the vast majority of detections by gardaí of road offences, numbering 75%, are made by other garda units. 

“Every member out there has a role to play in terms of the overall roads policing function,” he said. 

The issue of car thieves and young drivers viewing videos of dangerous driving on social media was also discussed. 

Ferry said that he has met with one of the major social media companies and further meetings are planned. He explained that he is hopeful of the engagement benefiting the force’s ability to contact social media companies to take down harmful content.