Over 150 gardaí assaulted while on duty so far this year
A total of 3,440 gardaí have been assaulted while on duty in almost 12 years.
Advertisement
There have been a higher-than-average number of reported assaults since 2022 compared with previous years.
There were 299 assaults on gardaí while on duty in 2014; 301 in 2015; 282 in 2016; 264 in 2017; 224 in 2018, and 266 in 2019.
In 2020, there were 223 on-duty garda assaults, in 2021 there were 266, in 2022 there were 316, in 2023 there were 470, and in 2024 there were 373.
There were 156 assaults of on-duty gardaí reported as of July 23rd this year.
Advertisement
'We are all immensely grateful to all our gardaí for their outstanding dedication and commitment to serving the public and for the important role that they play in our society,' the Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan said in response to a parliamentary question from Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín.
'For the most part, the relationship between gardaí and the public they serve is one built on very significant trust.
'We only have to look to the fact that An Garda Síochána is a largely unarmed, and yet hugely effective, community policing service.'
The figures come after a probationary garda was injured in a knife attack while on patrol on Dublin's Capel Street, and another garda was punched in the face.
Advertisement
A man has appeared in court charged with the assault of the probationary garda.
'The recent unprovoked attack on a garda in Dublin has been rightly condemned by all. It was a truly shocking incident in our capital city,' Aontú Senator Sarah O'Reilly said.
She said there was 'no doubt our streets are becoming unsafe'.
'When the Dáil resumes, my party will be reintroducing our bill, which seeks a mandatory minimum sentence for anyone who assaults a garda or frontline emergency worker.
Advertisement
'I'm hopeful that other parties will support our legislation in both the Dáil and the Seanad.
'These attacks on gardaí are not helping morale or recruitment to the force; the Government needs to support our legislation for harsher sentencing.'
Anyone convicted of assaulting a garda, a prison officer, a firefighter, an ambulance paramedic, or a soldier can face a maximum prison sentence of 7 to 12 years.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
24 minutes ago
- The Sun
Teen girl ‘sexually assaulted' on bus in broad daylight as cops release CCTV in hunt for man
COPS have released a CCTV image of a man after a teenage girl was reportedly sexually assaulted on a bus. Officers were called to reports of the horrific incident at around midday on June 4. Cops have since launched an urgent investigation and are appealing for the public's help to identify the man in the picture. He is described as being of mixed heritage, about 5ft 10ins tall, aged in his 20s or 30s with short wavy black hair, short black facial hair. Avon and Somerset Police said: "Officers spoke to the victim, however the offender had already left the First Bus 24 service by the time they were alerted. "We have been in contact with First Bus and have circulated the images among officers and are now appealing for the public's support in identifying the pictured man." 1
Daily Mail
24 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
'Terminator' Target shooter tries to hijack truck 'after executing petrified girl, 4, whose grandpa he'd just killed'
A crazed gunman tried to hijack a water truck minutes after gunning down a four-year-old girl and her grandpa outside a Target store Ethan Blaine Nieneker, 32, was photographed by a passing motorist dramatically stealing the truck at a construction site in north Austin on Monday. Leaning out of the cab, he balanced precariously on the step with one hand holding onto the door while the other clutched a handgun pointed at a worker. Nieneker was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and fluorescent blue and yellow-patterned shorts in the photo as he tried to make a getaway on the Mopac Expressway. Minutes earlier he allegedly shot dead Adam Chow, 65, and his granddaughter Astrid, 4, along with Target worker Hector Leopoldo Martinez Machuca, 24. Adam was shot first as he sat in the driver's seat, as Astrid watched. Nieneker is then accused of turning his weapon towards Astrid, shooting the little girl at point blank range as she sat in the back seat of her grandpa's car. The shooter did not know either of his victims, investigators say. After shoving Chow's wife Doris, 66, out of the family's grey Toyota 4-Runner, he took off away from the store before trying to switch cars to the water truck. Stricken Doris pulled Astrid from the car in a bid to find help that could save her, but the youngster succumbed to her injuries shortly after. He allegedly attacked the driver and tried pulling him out of the truck, but wasn't able to, instead chasing the truck driver away with his pistol before returning to the Toyota. Chow's family said Astrid was deeply loved by her family, teachers, classmates, friends, and 'all who had the privilege of knowing her'. 'Sweet Astrid brought joy, laughter, and light to everyone she touched,' they said. 'Adam Chow, was a loving husband to Doris, beloved father to Monica and Sophia, and a doting grandfather. He dedicated his life to loving God and loving others.' Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis alleged at a press conference that Nieneker first 'randomly' shot Machuca about 2.15pm as he collected trolleys. Austin homicide detective Nathan Sexton said Nieneker chose his victims 'completely randomly' and used a handgun given to him by a family member. 'He said that he was Jesus and there was no real reason whatsoever given,' he said. After his aborted attempt to steal the truck, he crashed into a Volkswagen about 2.25pm, then allegedly attacked and carjacked the Volkswagen driver. Nieneker only drove that car until 2.34pm when he tried to steal a self-driving Waymo car, but failed and got back in the Volkswagen. Minutes later, a church acquaintance of Nieneker claimed a brick came flying through the window of his house on La Casa Drive after the gunman threw it. Nieneker's alleged rampage continued until 2.58pm when he was spotted walking naked through a backyard down the street from the one he bricked. He was seen running into a 'porta potty', then running away again before police found him, still nude and holding a Bible, and demanded he surrender. When he refused, police fired their tasers and he was arrested at 3.06pm. 'The investigation shows that Nieneker conducted these violent offenses of shooting at multiple victims, killing three victims, and destroying multiple vehicles, in the span of less than one hour,' police said. Chow was pronounced dead at the scene at 2.39pm and his granddaughter at 2.50pm. Doris only suffered minor injuries. Nieneker was charged with two counts of capital murder for Chow and his granddaughter first-degree felony murder of Machuca. His booking photo at the Travis County Jail showed him staring straight at the camera with several fresh cuts on his face. Sexton said Nieneker gave no motive for the shooting and his state of mind at the time was still being investigated. 'We're still looking into the drug portion of it. He could have been under the influence of narcotics, it might not necessarily be all attributed to mental illness, so we're still investigating all of that,' he said. Davis admitted there were failures by authorities to follow up on mental health callouts, which may have prevented the shooting. 'This man had some serious issues, and I think about the systems that failed... there were some serious failures here,' she said. Nieneker had two emergency mental health detentions of up to 72 hours in 2018, but was not committed either time. How Nieneker got the gun, which he left in Chow's car, from a relative is being investigated, and could lead to charges against his family. 'Where does someone with this capacity to do this get a weapon and when does a family members feel comfortable giving someone with these issues a weapon?' Davis said. Nieneker lived alone and worked at a nearby restaurant, police said. Davis said police received calls about the shooting 15 minutes after it began and rushed to the scene within four minutes. Social media photos of Nieneker showed him grinning with friends at social events, posing while wearing a Covid-style mask by a trash bin, and posing beside a fireplace. Another Facebook image showed the alleged gunman holding a large brown leaf in front of his face and creepily peering over it, and a fifth photo had Nieneker wearing an American flag as a bandana. Davis told reporters on Monday evening that Nieneker has a history of mental illness and a prior criminal history on charges including drugs and assault.
The Guardian
24 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Disclosing suspects' ethnicity and migration status is dangerous
We share the concerns of the Runnymede Trust and the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants that the proposal to allow police to reveal the ethnicity and migration status of crime suspects has scant regard for community safety (Campaigners criticise UK plans to reveal suspects' ethnicity and migration status, 10 August). After another summer of far-right discontent, the Institute of Race Relations, which monitors national developments, is concerned about the focus in some communities on vigilante justice, often justified in terms of hunting down paedophiles. The danger is that local punishment squads could deal out their own form of summary justice against anyone perceived to be an asylum seeker or a foreign criminal, with the colour of their skin marking them out for FeketeDirector, Institute of Race Relations It is not surprising that the police have been given new official guidance to issue information about the ethnicity of suspects (New guidance for UK police on releasing suspects' ethnicity and migration status, 13 August). It is astonishing, however, that the debate continues without any acknowledgment that the very attempt to classify people by racial origin is a founding principle of the worst governments of the past century. Urged to self-classify, as we are in many official forms for seemingly good reasons, no one seems prepared to say simply that the very attempt to classify people by 'racial origin' is in itself an abhorrent first step on the road to apartheid, 'remigration' and StubbsBridport, Dorset The nonsensical notion of 'transparency' has raised its ideologically loaded head again in the latest front to be opened up in the culture wars (Routinely disclosing the ethnicity of police suspects is a very dangerous step to take, 13 August). If 'transparency' is really the most important motivating factor here rather, than, say, appeasement of unpleasant far‑right views, surely the annual earnings of the accused, or their highest level of educational attainment, would be more significant in helping to portray a profile of those who are accused or suspected of criminal activity. Eddie Duggan Ipswich, Suffolk Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
