Trust, Accountability and the Police
In “post-traditional society”, people are less inclined to take institutions for granted, more inclined to criticise and evaluate them. All this is implicit in the concept of liberal-democratic governance: if trust is invested in key public institutions, then the other side of the coin is a demand for accountability. Moreover, serious allegations of misconduct have been surfacing in regard to police forces in cities like New York and London
In Ireland at the time of the foundation of the State, senior officers of the Royal Irish Constabulary were advisers during the setting up of the Garda Siochana (such was the reputation of the R.I.C. for efficiency). The R.I.C., however, was based on a quasi-military model and was perceived as an instrument of colonialism; so the new force began to distance itself from that “image”.
Then as now a community-liaising dimension was pursued. Members of the force made a point of excelling in GAA games. They also tended towards traditional society’s pattern of informal community self-policing: rough-and-ready physical punishment visited on law-breakers by some individual having the prowess to administer it.
Informal relations between Gardai and community over the years ultimately resulted in an 86% confidence-rating among the public (according to a 1985 study). Missing, however, had been any formal mechanism which might have ensured institutional oversight and public accountability when the force came under new strains in urbanised Ireland. (From the 1960s the crime rate tripled in twenty years).
A 1987 study found 57% of respondents agreeing with the statement that the Gardai sometimes abused suspects physically and mentally; while 40% agreed that “in court, some Gardai would rather cover up the facts than lose face”. More recently came reports of heavy-handed action against Dublin street-demonstrators. And serious allegations of misconduct in Co. Donegal were brought before the Morris Tribunal.
The Garda Siochana Complaints Bureau (established in 1987) in 2002 professed itself dissatisfied with the system whereby complaints against officers were investigated by other officers – and with the level of the force’s cooperation. The Garda Ombudsman Commission (set up under 2005 legislation) is criticised by some for not having the same “teeth” as Northern Ireland’s Police Ombudsman. However, the legislation also provides for a “joint policing committee” in each local authority area: this has distinct potential as a viable forum for accountability.
Aogán Mulcahy is a senior lecturer in the School of Sociology at University College Dublin
Order this Issue
35 Lr Leeson St
Dublin 2
Ireland
Tel:
+353 1 676 6785
Fax:
+353 1 676 2984
Email:
studies@jesuit.ie