Dublin: Dail Committee Wants Criminal Justice Inspectorate Set Up

A report published by an Oireachtas committee has recommended significant changes to the way garda oversight is carried out.

Among the recommendations by the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality are a reduction in the membership of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) from three to one.
 
*www.rte.ie/news/2014/1003/649806-kingsmill/
  
The report also suggests that access to the garda PULSE system for members of the commission be granted on a statutory basis.

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Watch: Oireachtas Justice Committee publishes GSOC report

In addition, the committee recommends reform of mediation and complaints procedures that it says would allow resources allocated to GSOC to be used for “serious complaints”.
It suggests that Instead of setting up a garda inspectorate, the Government should establish a criminal justice inspectorate.
This inspectorate would oversee all aspects of the criminal justice system such as the courts, DPP, and probation services.
In its report, the committee also recommends that a separate intelligence division within the garda should be set up to manage sensitive information, and that consideration should be given to let people join the force at the rank of Superintendent.

Keywords: gsoc, houses of oireachtas, an garda siochana

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GSOC chairman has 'no intention of resigning 

Dublin: Gardai Protect Themselves With "Blue Wall" Code Of Silence: *UPDATED

A new training programme for recruits is due to begin in the next two weeks

The officer in charge of the Garda College said she would like to think that there was no "blue wall" in the gardaí and that Templemore would produce good officers to police modern Ireland.
A "blue wall" is an unofficial code of silence where corrupt police officers protect each other from accountability and do not report a colleague's wrongdoing.

* www.independent.ie/irish-news/gardai-promise-end-to-group-think-within-force-30541620.html

* www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-19993392

* www.irishpost.co.uk/news/former-first-minister-calls-for-fresh-inquiry-into-garda-collusion-in-ira-killings

* www.saoirse32.wordpress.com/tag/garda-collusion/

Chief Superintendent Anne-Marie McMahon was speaking at the introduction of a new training programme for garda recruits who are due to begin training in the next two weeks. 

* www.buzzle.com/articles/blue-code-of-silence.html 
& * www.nytimes.com/1994/04/26/nyregion/blue-wall-of-silence-graft-shielded-behind-old-code.html 

Her comments come in the wake of severe criticism of the culture of the force and the way it has trained new members.

Chief Supt McMahon said the new programme would foster critical thinking and encourage gardaí to be more reflective, analytical and accountable.

Some 300 recruits may have been promised, but the Government has only sanctioned the recruitment of 100 new gardaí, the first in over five years.

The college has been criticised for the way students are turned into members of the force, which Judge Peter Smithwick found had a culture that puts loyalty over honesty.

The director of the college said the new course originated six years ago following a review of training in 2008, long before recent garda controversies.
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*Framing two men for a murder that never occurred. Orchestrating fake IRA bomb ‘finds’ either side of the border. Planting guns and drugs. False arrests, abuse of detainees and securing false confessions. These were the institutionalised activities in the Donegal division of Síochána that were the subject of a landmark tribunal conducted by Justice Morris. In October 2008, after six years, the Morris Tribunal completed its work. Its findings catalogued corruption, negligence, misconduct and ‘a blue wall of silence’ in an Garda Síochána, on an unprecedented scale. The reports also highlight the inadequacies of existing accountability systems that were reformed substantially mid-way through the work of the Tribunal, by the Garda Síochána Act 2005.

The findings and recommendations of the Tribunal are particularly striking in a country where public confidence in the police has historically been exceptionally high, and criticisms of the police slow to be aired. The Blue Wall of Silence questions what contribution the Tribunal has made to the accountability of the Garda Síochána, asking not just whether it has held the Gardaí involved to account, but also what impact it has had on both the accountability apparatus and broader public and political attitudes towards an Garda Síochána. Has the Tribunal fundamentally altered perceptions of the Irish police or has its work been dismissed as a blip caused by a few rotten apples? Justice Morris warned that without substantial reform the activities documented could reoccur elsewhere in Ireland. Has a sufficient level of reform been achieved? In addressing these questions the book makes a substantial contribution to national and international debates on police accountability, raising within democratic societies the crucial relationships between official inquiries, policy reform and police governance.

www.irishacademicpress.ie/product/the-blue-wall-of-silence-the-morris-tribunal-and-police-accountability-in-ireland/ 

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*HOUSTON (NNPA) - “You have the right to remain silent!”

This is the beginning phrase from the warning criminal suspects usually hear when they are being read their Miranda rights from a member of law enforcement, and prior to them saying anything that could harm them in any way and be self-incrimination.

For many current and former Houston Police Department (HPD) officers, many believe they have had to work in an environment built upon a foundation of retaliation and an unwritten “code of silence.”

For the second time in a year, a federal jury has determined that the Houston Police Department retaliated against one of its own.

After more than three weeks of testimony and jury deliberation, Officer Christopher Zamora was awarded $150,000 for compensatory damages that include emotional distress and damage to his professional reputation in the law enforcement community. The police department challenged the finding. Last December, another federal jury also ruled in favor of Officer Zamora, but a U.S. Supreme Court ruling necessitated a new trial.

Officer Zamora is the son of a retired HPD lieutenant. He and 23 other Hispanic police officers filed a lawsuit alleging discrimination within HPD against Hispanics in the promotions process.

Christopher Zamora Photo: Houstontexas.gov

According to the ruling, Officer Chris Zamora, who was not involved in the original case, was subjected to a hostile work environment and labeled “untruthful” by the HPD Internal Affairs Division and HPD command staff. Meanwhile, during the intervening 5 years, Officer Zamora received the department’s 2008 South Patrol Officer of the Year Award and was also named Officer of the Year by “The 100 Club,” a popular non-profit organization that supports families of officers killed in the line of duty.

But Officer Zamora, like any officer who challenges the system, ran into a blue wall.

It’s called the Blue Code of Silence, an unwritten rule among police officers not to rat on a fellow officer. Many feel it’s futile to challenge the blue code, because doing so could mean breaking longstanding traditions and feelings of brotherhood within law enforcement. Violating the silence could lead to being shunned, losing friends, losing back-up, receiving threats, having one’s own misconduct exposed and being terminated.

No one has to explain that to Katherine Swilley, a well-respected and dedicated officer, who served HPD for more than 20 years. Ms. Swilley received numerous “Outstanding” performance ratings and commendations from the public, her superiors, and two mayors.

She started a nonprofit organization in 2000 called Texas Cops & Kids—Cops Giving Kids Quality Time … Not Jail Time. Using mostly of her own funds, Ms. Swilley started the juvenile delinquency prevention program because of concerns about the lack of options disadvantaged youth had in some of Houston’s poorest neighborhoods.

Ms. Swilley’s community service work led to city of Houston Mayor Bill White awarding her the city of Houston’s prestigious Bravo Award in September 2005, an honor that was praised by her supervisors.

After receiving the Bravo Award, Police Chief Harold Hurtt detailed Ms. Swilley to the Public Affairs Division on special assignment in May 2006 to initiate his “Kids at Hope Program.” This is when Ms. Swilley says her career began to unravel.

In 2008, Ms. Swilley’s problems began when she reported what she believed was discrimination within the Houston Police Department’s Public Affairs Division. She cited her supervisors’ lack of support for the inner city delinquency prevention program that served at-risk youth. Ms. Swilley filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Shortly after lining the EEOC complaint, she said, the police department initiated a criminal investigation of her for allegedly misappropriating funds from her non-profit, charges that were substantiated.

Ms. Swilley says that she was unlawfully retaliated against and terminated in March 2008, actions she also links to her filing the EEOC complaint and revoking her willingness to be bound by a “Last-Chance” Compromise Waiver Agreement that required her to relinquish the rights guaranteed to her by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

She states that these separation deals include taking mental fitness tests and/or program for officers with discipline problems, forced medical retirements and/or sign “Last Chance” compromise waiver agreements to accept a lesser discipline and drop any and all discrimination complaints they may have filed with EEOC.

“I did nothing wrong, so there was no need for me to sign anything,” says Ms. Swilley. “Officers who refuse to accept these deals are terminated and removed from their careers in law enforcement followed by erroneous dishonorable discharges based on bogus charges, ending their law enforcement careers.”

Ms. Swilley states that she never would have imagined in a million years being framed on a baseless criminal investigation or being bullied and forced out of a police career that she loved and was committed to for over 20 years.

According to HPD Internal Affairs documents received by the Houston Forward Times, Ms. Swilley was terminated for “untruthfulness.” Other documents show that Ms. Swilley received an improper dishonorable discharge and additional affidavits and documents from HPD Internal Affairs investigators clearly state that the department has no evidence or proof that Ms. Swilley committed any crime or deserved to be terminated.

In the meantime, Ms. Swilley has lived in fear.

“For two years, I was under a protective order and ordered not to discuss my case, while atrocious lies were spread throughout the police department and the community about me,” she recounted. “I have had my integrity and credibility attacked and I have even been threatened with dead animals on my yard and phone calls.”

Ms. Swilley says that officers have mysteriously shown up at her home, claiming that they were responding to alarm calls or calls for help at her home. She says that suspicious vehicles have been parked in front of her home; dead animals have been found in her yard, including a dead opossum in front of her home with its throat cut. Her computer has been hacked and random shots have been fired into her home.

She goes further to say that since she filed complaints the threats have escalated, from someone ringing her doorbell in the middle of the night to someone writing the words “F@#$ Y@%” with the “F” shaped as a Swastika sign on the sidewalk in front of her home.

Not only has she lost her job, she lost her husband to cancer, while spending more than $100,000 in legal fees in order to clear her name. “Swilley is my married name and my husband fought bravely for this country in the military,” said Ms. Swilley. “My husband has a good name and before he died, I promised him that I would continue to fight to clear the Swilley name from these lies. I will not rest until his name is cleared and my reputation is restored.”

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Tammany Hall: Rules:
(Don't write, if you can speak: Don't speak if you can nod: Don't nod if you can wink:
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/tammany_hall 

Keywords: gardai, templemore, garda college

Dublin: Garda Whistleblower Maurice McCabe To Hand Over Pulse Files To GSOC

Garda whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe is expected to hand over documentation on up to 3,000 terminated penalty-point cases when he is interviewed by the Garda Ombudsman next week.

It will be the first meeting between the officer and the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) since the body was requested last January, by former justice minister Alan Shatter, to investigate the matter.

GSOC has told the Department of Justice it will be an “extensive” investigation and has requested €1m in funding to hire extra staff to enable it to conduct the inquiry. Discussions in relation to the request are thought to be continuing.

The Irish Examiner understands that voluminous files of Pulse records, numbering between 2,000 and 3,000 cases of cancelled penalty points, will be handed over to GSOC investigators. It is thought the cases involve repeat offenders — motorists who had penalty points cancelled on multiple occasions.

Sgt McCabe previously claimed the cancellations were wrongful and unlawful. The repeat terminations are said to represent a sample of purportedly hundreds of thousands of cancellations identified by the officer.

It is believed up to four days have been set aside for the meetings in Dublin, starting next Tuesday. Sgt McCabe will hand over the files and is expected to go through the cases in detail, explaining to investigators what the Pulse records mean and the examinations he carried out.

It will take the GSOC team a considerable period of time to conduct its own examination of individual cases. The next stage will be the lengthy process of interviewing the gardaí who issued the fines and those who cancelled them.

It is understood GSOC has already secured copies of files on penalty points held by the Public Accounts Committee, the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), and the Garda Inspectorate.

The PAC was conducting an examination and met Sgt McCabe in private. Its hearings involved a disagreement with then Garda commissioner Martin Callinan over a sealed box of Pulse records provided by the sergeant. The dispute ended when Mr Shatter referred the issue to GSOC.

A C&AG report, published last September, said a “significant proportion” of terminations did not satisfy stated policy. It said rates in some districts were too high, amid concerns they were done without due cause.

In March, a Garda Inspectorate report found “consistent and wide- spread breaches” by gardaí of the termination system. Chief Inspector Bob Olson said the information provided by Sgt McCabe was “credible”, but he said they did not investigate individual allegations.

Dublin: Independent Policing Authority Will Add To Garda Accountability: *UPDATED LINKS

As the first chairman of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, from 2001 to 2009, and a former senior civil servant closely involved in the setting up of the board, we believe the creation of an independent policing authority adds to, rather than diminishes, the accountability of a police service – contrary to what Michael McDowell recently stated in The Irish Times.
www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/minister-will-have-veto-over-gsoc-inquiries-into-garda-chief-1.1903171 

Moreover, this can be achieved in a way that fully recognises the ultimate responsibility of the State for national security and other critical policing matters.

www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/reform-of-gardai-needs-to-adress-gap-between-state-and-minorities-1.1889403 

The Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland, following the Belfast Agreement of April 1998 and chaired by Lord Patten, recommended the creation of a new policing board composed of political members and a nearly equal number of independent members.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/garda_siochana#allegations_involving_abuse_of_powers 

The board’s primary function was to hold the police service for Northern Ireland to account through the chief constable, though the commission was clear that the chief constable should have operational responsibility for the actions of all those in the service he headed.

Mr McDowell asserted that “the Garda would be out of control” if the equivalent of the RTÉ Authority were nominally in charge of it. Such a body “wouldn’t be in a position to be accountable . . . to lay down strategy, to set budgets, to make executive decisions and directions, or to appoint or remove the Commissioner”. Yet these are all functions for which the Northern Ireland Policing Board has been responsible since its inception in October 2001.

Public accountability

The board’s success in holding successive chief constables to account has been one of its greatest achievements. Moreover, that accountability is very public. Statutorily, the board is required to hold almost monthly meetings in public (as well as in private), at which the media are also present. In the public session, the chief constable is asked a series of questions by board members to which frank replies are expected and generally given.

Each year, the Justice Minister provides the policing board and the chief constable with long-term objectives. Within that framework, the chief constable brings forward a draft annual plan for the board’s consideration, and the board itself sets the annual targets across a wide range of policing issues.

At each board meeting, business includes reports on delivery against targets. Moreover, the board does set the budgets and holds the chief constable to account for the delivery of services within budget.

The policing board is responsible for the appointment of the chief constable (subject to confirmation by the Justice Minister) through a public competition and a selection process it determines – contrary to the practice in respect of the Garda Síochána in Mr McDowell’s tenure.

Castlebar, Co Mayo: Man Who Murdered His Mother Had Been Mistakenly Freed By Gardai: Judge Reveals

A man who murdered his mother was mistakenly released from custody three weeks before the attack, a judge has revealed.

Celyn Eadon, 22, stabbed his mother Noreen Kelly to death in a frenzied killing at their home in Derrycrieve, Islandeady, Castlebar Co Mayo on March 9, 2011.

The drug user, who the court heard had begun abusing solvents as young as 10 and had gone through a profound personality change after suffering a serious beating aged 12, was jailed for life.

Three weeks before the attack on his mother, he appeared at Castlebar District Court on a theft charge after being arrested on a bench warrant for outstanding road traffic offences.

Eadon should have been held in custody after the February 16, 2011 hearing.

Inspector of Prisons Judge Michael Reilly was called in to examine the case three years ago and revealed today the killer had been unable to post bail when in court on that day.

Despite an order for his remand and paperwork being completed by court staff, Eadon walked from the courthouse.

He was arrested on March 11, 2011 after his mother was stabbed to death at the family home.

His trial heard that he had been hallucinating in the days before the attack and he had started fires in the house.

The court also heard that his mother had thrown a bag believed to have drugs in it into the fire the evening before she died.

A number of gardaí involved in the case were disciplined over the mistaken release following an internal investigation by a chief superintendent.

But the force's headquarters declined to comment further on the action taken saying: "An Garda Síochána does not comment on the outcome of internal disciplinary procedures.

"An Garda Síochána awaits the outcome of the GSOC examination into Garda practice, policy and procedure in relation to dealing with persons who are committed to custody on remand by a court."

Judge Reilly said that former Garda commissioner Martin Callinan accepted from an early stage that the correct remand documentations had been filed by court staff on February 16, 2011.

His report found that the proper procedures were followed in the court.

On the back of the mistaken release, the judge revealed that the Courts Service devised a new protocol for the preparation, checking and issuing of warrants in provincial district courts.

"I am satisfied that the protocols now in operation reflect best practice for the preparation, checking and issuing of warrants," the judge said.

"The Courts Service is to be complimented for its proactive and sensible approach in this matter."

Judge Reilly revealed that he could not examine the role of gardaí involved in the remand hearing further as his inquiry was non-statutory, while internal disciplinary action against officers was statutory.

The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) confirmed it has been asked to investigate the policy, practice and procedure of the handling of remand prisoners in the courts.

The inquiry began in April, but it is not expected to be complete for at least 18 months.

It is only the second time GSOC has commenced an inquiry of this kind into policy, practice and procedure under section 106 of the Garda Síochána Act.

The first was into the fixed charged penalty system and led to a report in 2009 which subsequently led to massive controversy in the force over the widespread wiping of penalty points by officers.

Dublin: Top Cop Signals Radical New Policing Approach: *UPDATED

A top garda has said that it is “only a matter of time” before private security firms begin targeting residential areas by trying to set up patrols.
*A pilot policing scheme in North County Dublin is aiming to dramatically change the way Gardaí operate in the community.

The latest stage of the Small Areas Policing Programme will have gardaí visit every resident in their area and work to ingratiate themselves into the community.

It is hoped the scheme could be rolled out on a wider basis if successful.

AGSI President Tim Galvin said the scheme is about boosting Garda standing in their communities.

"It's the way, when I joined the guards in the early 80s, that was the way we did it - we got to know everybody. We were sent out on a beat, you'd have to know everybody in the area - and that was the way you learned what was going on."

"We've come away from that over the last 15-20 years, and we've lost that community-based policing."

He said that in rural areas, there may not be enough manpower to cover the areas involved, but he did not forsee that problem in cities and large towns.

Galvin also said there is a "disconnect" between senior management and officers on the ground.

Ahead of the publication of a report by the Independent Garda Inspectorate into work practices in the force in the coming weeks, he said there is little interaction between regular officers and their superiors, and not enough training for Gardaí.

"We made a submission as part of the review under Haddington Road ... which the inspectors have" he said. "We can see that there is an issue ... hopefully any review will look at that in a big way."

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Chief Superintendent of Store Street Garda Station Pat Leahy said that the force must work to “protect this key space”, describing it as “the golden nugget of policing”.

He was speaking in an interview with TheJournal.ie  www.thejournal.ie on the Small Areas Policing Programme, a radical overhaul of the service An Garda Síochána provides.

Currently being trialled in Dublin’s north inner city, the programme turns the ‘top-down’ approach to policing on its head, and while is so far successful, there are some fears that it may be a once-off measure.

It is the latest stage of adopting a community-orientated approach. Previous stages over the past four years involved reaching out to key stakeholders in the area such as politicians and business owners.

This latest stage began earlier this year, and will see 60,000 residents visited by gardaí.

“It starts out by taking your division, treating it like a business,” Leahy said, “and asking yourself the question, if I didn’t address my customers appropriately, would I be out of business by the end of the year?

“And the answer was – yes.”

Community gardaí are now assigned to designated areas, ranging from anywhere between 150 to 600 homes, where they must get to know all the residents individually.

Click here to view a larger version.

The first step of this is a sit-down chat. The garda visits the resident’s home, introduce themselves, and invites them to complete a survey which outlines their views on the area and how it is policed.

“The garda has total responsibility for that area,” Leahy said. This ranges from addressing individual quality-of-life issues that arise to liaising with both victims of crimes and offenders.

The garda is responsible for monitoring the levels of crime in an area, either through reports received or from members of the public, and then communicating this back to superiors.

By looking at the issues from the ground-up, Store Street Garda Station has been able to readjust how existing resources are deployed, with no added capacity, in areas from the Drugs Unit to the Traffic Corps – and so far it appears to be having an effect.

“[Gardaí in the Bridewell district] have found that not only are quality of life issues coming down, but that the level of crime is coming down as well, even though they haven’t allocated them in line with the crime statistics,” Leahy noted.

“For a superintendent to make that kind of jump is quite a scary thing to do. we’re used to doing it one-way only.”

Chief Superintendent Leahy said that they haven’t had “one bit of negative feedback” on the programme so far, and those in the community are also very receptive.

Joe Costello, Labour TD for Dublin Central and former junior minister, told this website that he has “great support” for the programme, calling it the “ultimate in community policing [and] a very desirable step forward”.

“Anyone I’ve spoken to has liked the idea,” he said.

The deputy was involved in the embryonic stages of the Small Areas Policing Programme more than two decades ago, and was rapporteur to an Oireachtas committee which looked at community policing.

Gardai were seen as being isolated from the community and not trusted, and we needed to bring them back in.

While Leahy was confident of the programme’s continued success, Costello said there is a fear among some in the community that it is a once-off. Some local businesses have branded it as simply window-dressing.

“To deliver in practice is of course the real challenge,” Costello said. He noted the increased demand on garda resources, and said that “it’s too early to give it any degree of success”.

Rolling out

The scheme is slowly being rolled out across the north inner city, and it is understood the rest of the city has already been divided into the necessary ‘small areas’ in advance of widespread adoption of the programme.

But what about the rest of the country?

It would be more difficult in rural areas as you can not simply walk from door to door, and Leahy stressed whether it will be rolled out nationally is a decision that only the Garda Commissioner can make.

“I don’t want to prescribe for anyone outside of the north central area, what we’re doing is what what works for us, but if I was outside of here I would be asking, who’s doing it at the moment? All you have to do is look at An Post.

 They manage to visit so many homes every day… so there is a model for getting in touch with all these people, and even on a much more regular basis.

Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald has said she is “pleased” with this new community-based approach, but noted that significant work is needed before it is ready to be rolled out nationally.

“It is an important development in fostering engagement between local communities and the gardaí in targeting the concerns of local residents,” she told the Seanad last month.

 We hear constantly that people want their concerns responded to by local gardaí, and it is a cost effective approach.

“The Government is very supportive of this new initiative and approach to policing.

“This particular model is at an early stage, although many elements of it are in operation in different communities throughout Ireland. We will see how this precise model works before we could consider extending it,” the Minister said.

Leahy praised the work of the four superintendents and other detectives working on the programme, helping to co-ordinate it, but said it ultimately boils down to one thing:

 It’s not me, it’s about the great men and women going door to door and dealing with people’s everyday problems. It’s the real hard end of the stick in policing because you’ve to sit down, listen to all the issues, and then go and do something about it.

Read: We asked gardaí what they want from their new boss – here’s what they said >

More: These are the temporary, Tetris-like moves being made so the Gardaí can fill 28 senior roles… >

Dublin: Ivor 'The Robber' Callely Gets A Light Sentence For The Privileged And Corrupt

Gerry Adams has suggested that the jailed former Fianna Fáil minister Ivor Callely might have got a different sentence had he “been a kid from some disadvantaged area stealing €4,000 out of some down-town store”.

(Photo: SF President Gerry Adams T D.)

The Sinn Féin president said he was “reflecting philosophically” as he made the remarks outside Leinster House this Tuesday afternoon.

Adams was speaking in the wake of Callely being sentenced to five months in prison yesterday for making false mobile phone expenses claims totalling €4,207.45 while serving as a senator.

 “I did say to some of our folks had he been a kid from some disadvantaged area stealing €4,000 out of some downtown store he might have had a different sentence.

But there aren’t any recommendations or regulations or guidelines for sentencing,” Adams said today.

Adams said that the Callely controversy is “symptomatic of the political culture which needs continuously to be subjected to a focus”.

He said that while there had been some progress on political reform politicians “can’t for a moment pretend that there aren’t issues that need to be tightened up on”.  

Of Callely’s fate, Adams added: “He’s in prison now, he’ll do his time, but let’s keep the focus on the need to keep our politics and public life under continuous scrutiny.”

The Callely Controversies: From Fianna Fáil favourite to five months in prison

‘The public will have a problem with Brian Purcell keeping his €200,000 salary’

Most senators are coming back for Thursday’s special sitting… but some of them are on holidays.

Bray, Co Wicklow: Vandals Dislodged Boundary Wall Boulders That Derailed Dart Train *UPDATED

*Irish Rail says the partial derailment of a train in Co Wicklow could have resulted in fatalities.

The incident, involving a four carriage DART train last night, is being blamed on vandalism.

Thirty-three passengers escaped injury after the train came off the tracks after striking rocks near Bray at 11.15pm last night. Nobody was injured.

It happened around 100 metres north of the exit from the first tunnel on the rail track from Greystones to Bray.

Gardaí at Bray said a number of rocks were found on the railway track causing the train to derail.

They said: "From initial investigations carried out by An Garda Síochána and Irish Rail it appears that rocks may have been dislodged by unknown persons."

They are appealing for anyone who may have been walking on the Greystones/ Bray cliff walk between 8pm and 12 midnight last night to contact them.

They are also asking for anyone who may have seen a group or individuals at the start of the cliff walk in Bray or the entrance to the cliff walk in Greystones to get in touch them.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Bray Garda Station on 01-666 5300, the Garda Confidential Line 1-800-666-111 or any Garda Station. www.garda.ie 

Stretches of the cliff side path between Bray and Greystones are guarded on one side by walls made up of large boulders and blocks cemented into place.

There are also sections of wire and steel mesh attached to the slope and rock faces at certain points to act as a stabiliser for sheer cliffs and above the railway lines on some points to act as nets to catch rockfalls.

The area where the boulder came from showed no sign of rockfall or landslide.

Irish Rail said its investigations showed the dislodged piece was a coping stone from the top of the boundary wall on the cliff side.

There is no CCTV along that section of the cliff walk.

Irish Rail chairman Phil Gaffney described the suspected vandalism as reprehensible.

“Actions like this are extremely serious and reprehensible and could have resulted in serious injury to the driver and passengers,” the chairman said.

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Iarnród Éireann has said vandals caused a rockfall that led to a train derailing near Bray station in Co Wicklow last night.

Results of early investigations suggest that rocks were dislodged from a boundary wall above the railway line at Bray.

The line reopened at 9.50am after being closed overnight, and all services are now running normally.

LINK TO PHOTO ALBUM:
https://picasaweb.google.com/100853986949465414816/braycowicklowdarttrainderailedbyvandals
Last night's 11.10pm DART service from Greystones in Co Wicklow to Connolly Station in Dublin hit boulders about 1km south of Bray station.

Two sets of wheels on the four-carriage train came off the track as a result.

There were 33 passengers and the driver on board, however nobody was injured.

Up to 1,500 passengers experienced travel disruption this morning as a result.

Iarnród Éireann chair-designate Philip Gaffney said it was a very dangerous act, which could have resulted in fatalities.

The company is asking for anyone with information relating to the incident to contact gardaí as they are looking into the matter.
www.garda.ie 

Keywords: bray, dart, dublin, iarnród éireann, rosslare

Dublin: Government Appoints Seven Barristers To Examine Allegations Against Gardai

The Government has decided to hire seven barristers to examine as many as 220 outstanding allegations of Garda misconduct received from members of the public in light of the whistleblowers affair.

www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/legal-panel-to-examine-garda-misconduct-allegations-1.1851859 

The move came as the Government approved terms for draft laws to strengthen the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission with new powers, including the right to investigate any alleged criminal conduct by a Garda commissioner.

In respect of some 220 allegations about members of the force, Attorney General Máire Whelan will engage a panel of two senior counsel and five junior counsel to scrutinise files and advise whether further action is required. The latest investigation comes on foot of a recommendation to Cabinet from Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald.

• GSOC given power to investigate Garda Commissioner
• Lessons from cases of Roma children taken into care should form part of policing reforms
• Racial profiling played role in removal of children from Roma families
• Full coverage of the Garda crisis

Misconduct claims

It follows the Guerin report into misconduct claims made by Sgt Maurice McCabe, the Cooke report on claims the GSOC headquarters were bugged, the establishment of the Fennelly commission to examine covert recording of phone calls in some Garda stations and an assortment of inquiries into the penalty points controversy. At issue is a deluge of allegations received from the public by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Ministers, TDs and Government departments.

Each complainant will be contacted and offered access to the barristers, who must complete their work within eight or 10 weeks. “Members of the panel will examine the papers on each case and make recommendations to the Minister on whether further action is needed, such as referral to GSOC,” said the Department of Justice.

Separately, the Cabinet resolved yesterday to give the Minister the right to refer alleged criminal or other serious misconduct on the part of a Garda commissioner to GSOC. The commission could also examine such matters on its own initiative.

‘Investigated’

“However, the conduct that may be investigated under the new arrangements will not include the exercise of the general direction and control functions of the commissioner,” said the department . Such matters will be overseen by the new Garda authority. The time limit for making a complaint to GSOC will be prolonged to 12 months and it will be given the right to intercept communications and carry out electronic surveillance in any criminal investigation into gardaí.

Dublin: Junior Gardai "Forsaken, Betrayed And Pilloried" By Top Brass: Claim

Probationer gardaí with little experience of investigations were ‘hung out to dry’ by Garda management as, it has been claimed. A rank-and-file Garda leader said the Guerin report showed that inexperienced officers were “forsaken, betrayed and pilloried by those who had a duty of care towards them”.

Garda Representative Association general secretary PJ Stone said “there are lessons to be learned from Bailieborough” and that there are also irregularities in Garda management that require explanation.

A Garda Review editorial said it was vital a planned full inquiry was given structure, a timeframe and terms of reference, and expeditiously progress to ensure current “unfair” speculation about some members — now identified countrywide through the grapevine — should not fester further.

The editorial said everyone concerned was under no illusion of the broader scope of what was to come.

“The Guerin report itself draws inferences from extremely limited data that needs to be further expanded and expounded upon before the broad-brush strokes can be authenticated.

“The report raises many serious questions that must be answered by Garda management; how so many probationer gardaí were assigned to a district headquarters station in Bailieborough that did not have the appropriate training and professional development capabilities.

“And, subsequently, how much access to qualified training sergeants was available to these members?”

Mr Stone says: “The answers to these questions are core to providing the structural safeguards to the future of policing.”

Despite a training sergeant putting on record that a probationer garda ‘received little or no supervision from his supervisory sergeant’, the note appeared not to have merited the close attention of Garda management.

The GRA refers to Guerin’s discovery: the common line in all of the Garda investigations showed the original inquiries had been dealt with by inexperienced probationer gardaí with little, or none, of the appropriate supervisory or management guidance.

Experienced detectives would, in any other Garda division, normally have investigated all of the cases but over a period of 20 years, no permanent detectives had been appointed in the Cavan-Monaghan division.

“This has not been highlighted by Guerin — but is an irregularity that needs explanation,” said the editorial. “Time and again Guerin notes ‘poor guidance and leadership’ and surprise that not only were matters of gravity left entirely in the hands of inexperienced probationer gardaí — but that the only disciplinary proceedings were against those inexperienced probationer gardaí.”

Mr Stone said, too often, the report pointed to the absence of proper management: “Now, when the organisation has been widely criticised, it is the junior members involved who have been most affected. In truth, they have been forsaken, betrayed and pilloried by those who had a duty of care towards them.”

Dublin: New DNA DATABASE Legislation A Landmark In Criminal Law

The DNA database promised seven years ago should be operational by the end of the year, justice officials have said. Legislation creating the database passed all stages of the Oireachtas yesterday, marking a landmark in criminal law and policing.

It will allow investigators to check samples from crime scenes with samples taken from suspects and convicted criminals, including sex offenders.

The Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Bill 2013 will now go before the President to be signed into law. A spokesman at the Department of Justice said that the “intention is to have the database operational by the end of the year”.

Frances Fitzgerald, the justice minister, said yesterday: “Today is a momentous day as Ireland joins the ranks of countries that exploit to the maximum the potential of DNA to assist with the investigation and prosecution of crime.”

Ireland is thought to be the only country in the EU that does not have such a database.

The technology has the added benefit of facilitating the searching of national DNA databases. It will have two divisions, investigation and identification.

The investigation division will try and match a DNA profile from an individual to an unidentified profile taken from a crime scene.

The identification division will assist with identifying missing and unknown persons (those who are severely ill or injured who cannot identify themselves).

The investigation division will comprise a crime scene index; a reference index and an elimination index. The crime index are profiles from DNA samples from crime scenes. The reference index will contain profiles from:

- Most suspects (other than children under 14 and protected persons) detained by gardaí in relation to serious offences;

- Criminals on the sex offenders’ register after the commencement of the legislation;

- Offenders subject to imprisonment for a serious offence;

- Some former offenders no longer subject to sentence.

The elimination indexes are profiles from officials and police.

The act allows the retention of profiles for six years for adults and three years for children. The system will be subject to independent oversight by a statutory committee.