Latest news with #CroweReport
Irish Times
6 days ago
- Irish Times
Policing the traffic
Sir, – As a retired orthopaedic surgeon I have spent a considerable amount of my professional life dealing with road traffic victims. According to the recent, as yet unpublished Crowe report, 'gardaí working in road policing were openly 'hostile' towards doing their jobs', In most instances policing for speeding and 'jumping' red lights can be fully automated with existing technology, freeing up gardaí for other duties. All roads in London and other English cities are monitored by such technology. My daughter recently received a speeding ticket in London for driving at 21 mph in a 20mph zone! READ MORE Over the past year, having driven some 7,000 miles, I am aware of only seeing two speed vans. As a so-called country designated for hi-tech we remain in the dark ages. – Yours, etc, JAMES M SHEEHAN(FRCS), Blackrock, Co Dublin.
Irish Independent
01-08-2025
- Irish Independent
‘Lack of transparency' – Garda representative groups hit out at ‘drip feeding' of report on road policing gardaí
On Thursday, a meeting of the Policing and Community Safety Authority heard that the Crowe Report highlighted how some gardaí working in roads policing units showed 'blatant disregard' for their job and were 'openly hostile" to it. While the report has not yet been released publicly, details contained within it were aired at the meeting, with both Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and Chair of the PCSA Elaine Byrne describing these as 'shocking'. The policing bodies representing rank-and-file and supervisory gardí have now denounced what they say is the 'drip feeding' of information into the public domain. The Garda Representative Association (GRA) described it as 'another insult to our overworked and under-resourced' roads policing colleagues and added that the quoting from a report which hasn't been released is 'entirely inappropriate and disrespectful' to its members. 'It appears that for a number of months the Commissioner has been aware of alleged serious issues within the Roads Policing Unit (RPU), but it seems that he failed to take any action. Instead the Commissioner abdicated his responsibilities to another external consultancy firm. "This once again highlights the style of management that has dramatically impacted on the morale and motivation of all members within AGS.' The GRA, which represents almost 11,000 frontline gardaí, also said that the initial feedback from its members who interacted with the Crowe Report 'is at odds' with comments made before the committee. 'Members of the RPU are dedicated members who conscientiously enforce the road traffic acts on a daily basis. "We now anxiously await full publication of this Report and question whether any findings will substantiate the damaging allegations made against our members and the effect on the families of victims of road fatalities and to our colleagues who have died in the line of duty. "This is another blow to the frontline members of a crippling An Garda Síochána rocked by low morale, low numbers and career uncertainty." The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI), which represents around 2,500 mid-ranking gardaí, has called on the full report to be released. It said it 'is deeply concerned by the reported contents of the Crowe Report, which appears to be highly critical of how An Garda Síochána, under Commissioner Harris' leadership, has overseen and supported personnel within a specific section of the organisation, namely Roads Policing. 'Despite its serious implications for our members, the supervisory and middle management of An Garda Síochána, the report has not been released to this Association. As a result, AGSI is prevented from commenting in any informed way on its contents or responding meaningfully to the public commentary surrounding it. 'This lack of transparency and the manner by which this report has entered the public domain is symptomatic of the broader dysfunctionality in how consultation and internal industrial relations matters have been handled within An Garda Síochána.' The AGSI said it was disappointed at how the information was released and that the report's findings should be used for 'dialogue and progressive reform', rather than 'undermining the reputation of hard-working, frontline Gardaí.' The PCSA had received the report in June which found some members showed a 'blatant disregard' for their job, even while they knew their actions were being directly reviewed. 'They were openly hostile to doing their job,' Elaine Byrne said, in what she described as a 'wake-up call' for An Garda Síochána. 'There are members within roads policing who seem very much uninterested in their job, and this is something that we are concerned about in terms of performance of individual guards, and it's something that the previous authority have looked upon, and the current authority would have concerns about the absence of performance management within the gardaí,' the PSCA chair said after the meeting. She said the authority had also been 'shocked' by a fear of carrying out performance management among garda managers. Ms Byrne also urged the Garda Commissioner to publish the report in due course, which Mr Harris said he would do soon. 'What I'll undertake to do is, we just do one final read through the report. I just want to be sure nobody's identifiable, and then we can issue the report,' he said. 'It did arise from anonymous correspondence that I received, obviously from a roads policing member and although anonymous, it had certainly a ring of authenticity about that.'
RTÉ News
01-08-2025
- RTÉ News
'Devastated' - Road safety advocate's shock over report
A leading road safety advocate has expressed his shock and disappointment at the findings of a report on attitudes within An Garda Síochána. The Crowe Report, commissioned by Garda Headquarters, found that a substantial number of gardaí assigned to roads policing were not doing their jobs and had no interest in doing it. Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has promised to publish the report, which also shows that gardaí who were not carrying out their duties did not care that they were being monitored, and that their managers were not dealing with the problem. An independent review of roads policing was launched after a garda whistleblower informed garda headquarters that a substantial number of the gardaí tasked with policing the roads were not doing their jobs. Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Vice President of the Irish Road Victims Association Leo Lieghio, whose 16-year-old daughter Marsia was killed in 2005 after she was struck by a car, said it not just shocking but heart-breaking to hear that some members of roads policing are not interested in doing their job. He said: "As someone who lost my daughter through dangerous driving, this report has left me absolutely devastated. "To learn that the gardaí assigned specifically to roads policing, and they're refusing to do their jobs, it's open contempt., and it's not just shocking, it's heartbreaking." He added that the report showed that not only did gardaí fail at their basic duties at speed checks, road testing and drug driving, "but they also didn't care, they didn't even care that they were being watched or monitored". Mr Lieghio added: "That's a complete betrayal of trust. "And worse still, the culture of silence and fear among the management, the idea that supervisors were too afraid and unwilling to step in, that's a systemic failure and real people are paying with their lives." He said that he had no indication that this type of attitude was held by members of An Garda Síochána. However, he said he did know that some members were very frustrated because they were arresting people, charging them and then they are being "let go" by the courts. Mr Leighio said: "It's all across the board, it's the justice system, the gardaí, the justice system, the DPP. "There doesn't seem to be a will there anymore for road safety. There are gardaí, good gardaí out there that are doing their job today. "And I say they work hard and I say 'thank you' to them, but this is the moment where the silence and the good can't just let the failures of the others go unchallenged. They have to speak up and demand better. "The public and grieving families deserve nothing less."
RTÉ News
31-07-2025
- RTÉ News
Report showing many roads gardaí not doing jobs 'shocking'
The chairperson of the Policing and Community Safety Authority has described as "shocking" a report which shows that a substantial number of gardaí assigned to Roads Policing are not doing their jobs and have no interest in doing them. The Garda Commissioner has promised to publish the Crowe Report which also shows that gardaí who were not carrying out their duties did not care that they were being monitored, and that their managers were not dealing with the problem. Drew Harris called their actions "brazen and contemptuous" and the report's conclusions "sobering". The disturbing details in this report emerged on the day that the gardaí launched another of its road safety campaigns. An independent review of roads policing was launched after a garda whistleblower informed garda headquarters that a substantial number of the gardaí tasked with policing the roads were not doing their jobs. The chairperson of the policing and community safety authority also pointed out that garda managers and supervisors in charge of those gardaí, were either unable, unwilling or afraid to do anything about it The chairperson of the Policing and Community Safety Authority described the report as shocking and said there are members within roads policing who seem very much disinterested in their job. The report also showed that not only were these gardaí not conducting speed checks or tests for drink and drug driving, they also did not care that they were being monitored and that their failure to do their job had been identified by the independent investigators. The chairperson Elaine Byrne also said she was not only concerned about the blatant disregard some members have, when they knew they were being reviewed by this but also about the absence of performance management. "They were in the cars with people, and they were openly hostile to doing their job," she said. "And I think once that report is published, you'll see that, but also perhaps another thing that we were shocked about is that there seem to be a deference or a fear of some management, of not actually doing performance management, and just a fear of actually being managers within guards, within Roads Policing." The Garda Commissioner called the actions of the gardaí "brazen" and "contemptuous" and said a working group had been established to implement its recommendations. He also said it was not just a matter of moving people on because the issues identified were "systemic". The findings of this report will be particularly distressing to the families of people who have lost loved ones on the roads because of speed, dangerous, drink or drug driving.
