TÁNAISTE AND MINISTER for Justice Frances Fitzgerald today met with the New York Police Department’s new commissioner and senior police officers to share information on tackling organised crime and gang violence.

Fitzgerald attended the inauguration in New York for James O’Neill following what were described as “intensive talks” with him and his assistant commissioners.

“We share a common determination to tackle serious organised and gang crime, and the violence and damage it inflicts on communities,” the Tánaiste said this evening. “And we are also determined to ensure that law enforcement has the resources and capacity to face down those involved.”

In the meetings today they covered strategies to tackle crime, including the use of technology, community policing and targeted intelligence based operations to deal with both organised crime and terrorism.

Of course there are many differences between the policing environments in our two jurisdictions, but I was also struck as to how similar many of the issues faced are.

She said the events of Saturday, when a bomb in New York city injured 29 people, are a reminder of the challenges facing police forces here and all over the world, “particularly the persistent threat from those intent on terror and destruction”.

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