A GSOC COMMISSIONER has warned that the watchdog will need “significant investment” to be able to keep track of the “abuse of technology” if Gardaí get body worn cameras, and if facial recognition technology is brought in.
Hugh Hume, who appeared in front of the Public Petitions Committee today alongside other Garda Síochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) officials, said that bringing in new technology to assist the work of Gardaí will have pros and cons.
Hume said that while new tech may be “useful”, particularly in light of how its counterpart in Northern Ireland is able to use body cam footage to aid its work, it can also be used for “both good and bad”.
“No technology is infallible.
“Any introduction of tech must have robust procedures for the protection of data, and the protection of imageries to make sure it isn’t shared disproportionately,” he added.
Hume argued that bringing in body worn cameras will increase GSOC’s workload significantly, as it will have to check that procedures around the use of such tech are being adhered to, and that there “is no misconduct going on”.
He said that with the introduction of new tech, the 3000 allegations made yearly that it deals with will could potentially all have footage attached to them, which GSOC would need to receive, store, and manage.
His Colleague Rory McCabe, the chair of GSOC, said that in his experience as a judge he has seen how effective video technology such as CCTV can be in establishing the facts of a case.
He said that it is a “powerful weapon” for protecting the public, as well as Gardaí who come in the line of fire.
During the committee meeting GSOC officials told politicians that the investigative body has for a long time been understaffed, with huge workloads per investigator compared to similar authorities in other countries.
This month, an investigation by The Journal’s investigative branch – Noteworthy – revealed chronic staff shortages at GSOC with the watchdog warning in its latest annual report that “Staff turnover…has not only exposed existing staff to increased workloads but also to work-related stress and burnout.”
Today at the committee meeting, McCabe suggested that a specific higher education course to train investigators may be a solution to its recruitment and retention crisis.
“It’s something we’ve been discussing [...] to see if we could get Limerick or one of the higher education institutes interested in putting on a dedicated course of education, as you all know, it is really a matter of money,” he said.
GSOC currently has 30 investigators, and 10 assisting investigators. They are ideally, according to the Grant Thornton benchmarking review, meant to be dealing with 10 cases each.
Currently, investigators in GSOC are dealing with 25 to 30 cases. These can relate to anything from petty theft, to sexual impropriety, to abuse of power.
While former Gardai make up some of the staff, others worked previously in policing and defence authorities in Australia, Canada and other countries, and some come from the Defence Forces.
Very serious cases relate to the actions of Gardaí potentially influencing the death of serious harm of someone.
McCabe said that the extensive vetting which is part of the recruitment process means that onboarding people quickly difficult.
He also said that the watchdog is looking for applicants who have any “experience in conducting investigations”.
Peter Whelan said that because of staffing issues, GSOC are able to do very comprehensive investigations, but there are frequent issues with timeliness.
On average it takes 366 days for a criminal investigation to be completed, but often it takes longer.
Some GSOC files have been open for 15 years, the committee heard.
GSOC officials also voiced concerns about threats to their independence posed by the Policing, Security and Community Safety bill – which is at committee stage – which is planning to scrap GSOC and replace it with one Police Ombudsman, who will have a higher level of public visibility.
The bill will make significant changes to how GSOC conducts its business. One area of concern for officials is the introduction of a “triple lock” for GSOC investigations of garda stations, which will give the Garda Commissioner the power to block planned searches.
Another change that GSOC chiefs take issue with is that, under the bill, the watchdog will present its report to the Minister for Justice, who will then oversee it being brought to the Oireachtas.
Hume said that, as is the case with the Defence Forces, the Ombudsman should have the power to bring its report before the Oireachtas directly, without ministerial oversight.
Hume further stated that it is “unfair” that the new bill places timeframe requirements for investigations on the Ombudsman, but does not place equivalent requirements on the Gardaí, even though the level of co-operation can impact the time it takes to complete an investigation.
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