The number of assaults on Gardaí is leading to problems in attracting new members into the training college in Templemore.
That’s the view of the local representative for rank and file Gardaí in the Tipperary Division.
Richard Kennedy also says the numbers leaving the force outweighs the number of new recruits.
Speaking on Tipp Today the Tipperary GRA rep says recruitment is a huge issue for the force.
“It is the kind of thing that puts people off joining the Guards when you see these ‘headline’ assaults.
“They had a big fanfare last week over 24 Gardaí coming through Templemore – we got a personnel bulleting last Friday and between resignations and retirements there’s 36 gone. The 24 we saw on our news headlines is already gone – we’d 10 resignations again last Friday. We’re averaging roughly two resignations a week.”
Gardaí in Tipperary are having to spend half their working day in front of a computer.
Members in the Tipperary Division are currently taking part in a pilot project which Garda Kennedy told Fran Curry on Tipp Today earlier is part of the modernisation of the force.
“The members on the ground give feedback in relation to some of the modernisation programmes they’ve brought in and bits of it that aren’t working – but we’re still working with the same system.
“We have a case management system at the moment – Tipperary is one of the pilot Divisions for it. It forces members to be in front of a computer for half their working day. So if you have a situation where you’re losing half of your day sitting in front of a computer the service we’re offering to the public is downgraded due to what they call modernisation. But sometimes modernisation is a backward step.”
