Dublin City Policing Committee

Dublin City Joint Policing Committee (JPC) Meeting 05/07/2010
Managers Report
_____________________________________________________
1. Anti-social Behaviour Work Shop

As indicated at the last JPC meeting a workshop was organised for June 16th in the Civic Offices in relation to anti-social behaviour, at which JPC Members were given the opportunity for input into the Draft Policy Document prior to commencement of the formal adoption process. The latest version of this document has now been circulated to the Housing, Social &Community Affairs SPC for further consideration. It is hoped to have consultations completed and to bring a final policy document forward foradoption by City
Council sometime in the coming Autumn.

2. Headshops

The Department of Justice, Equality & Law Reform has now published the Heads of Bill for the Criminal Justice (Psychoactive Substances) Bill 2010. This Bill is intended to reinforce and close loopholes in the various regulations introduced by the Department of Health & Justice over the last few months. As Councillors will be aware these regulations caused some Headshops to close temporarily in May and June, but many are now re-opened with rebranded slightly different stock.
The Heads of Bill can be downloaded from the Department of Justice,
Equality & LawReform website:
http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/RIA.pdf/Files/RIA.pdf

3. Business Policing Forum

Under the Garda Act 2006 and JPC guidelines, powers are granted for the establishment of Policing Fora to tackle crime and policing on a geographical and or issue basis. In view of the importance of business (particularly retail and hospitality) to the social and economic health of the city and its citizens, it is proposed that a Business Policing Forum be established. Such a Forum can cover crime, litter, traffic, parking, public safety etc.

It is proposed that, besides the City Council and Gardaí, Dublin Tourism, Business Improvement Districts (BID’s), the Chamber of Commerce and the Dublin City Business Association (DCBA) be invited to participate.

Philip Maguire
Deputy City Manager

Joint Policing Committee
Monday 5th July 2010

Report of Assistant Garda Commissioner Michael Feehan

At this fourth meeting of the Joint Policing Committee for 2010 I intend to concentrate on the developments in regard to the crime and traffic statistics for 2010. I will also outline developments with regard to the setting up of Local Policing Fora throughout the DublinRegion.

CRIME

You will be aware from previous reports that incidents of Burglaries across the Dublin Region had been problematic early in the year and that we put a specific operation, Codenamed Operation Creeper, in place to address this trend. That operation was successful in that it reversed the trend. However, the month of May has shown that the burglary trend was on the increase again. I have carried out a review of burglaries in the Region with the Chief Superintendents in each Division, and have now extended Operation Creeper to counteract this trend. Initial indications for the month of June have shown a decreasing trend.
As you will be aware from my last report Robbery from the Person was showing an increase, particularly in the City Centre. Following a review of the problem, an operation, codenamed Operation Pheasant, was put in place across the two city centre divisions. This was in addition to the local operations which were in place in the Pearse Street and Store Street Divisions. I am pleased to report that this trend has been reversed with a decrease in the number of incidents during May. We are continuing to closely monitor trends both in robberies and in theft from the person, and are engaging with Headshop operators to ensure compliance with recently enacted regulation.
The initiatives across the city to target organised and armed crime are continuing. I am happy to report that the initiatives, which are
intelligence driven, continue to be seen locally as having an effect on the activities of persons involved in organised crime. We have had a number of arrests in the organised crime category and will continue to prioritise the investigation of these very serious crimes.

Traffic

The number of people killed on the roads for the first five months of 2010 stands at ten compared to eleven in the same period last year. Each of these deaths is a tragedy for families and the wider community. This is an area which I am monitoring continually and in early June 2010 I allocated additional resources to Roads Policing in each Division and to the Dublin Regional Traffic Unit.

2 Local Policing Fora

At our last meeting I outlined my proposals and suggested structures to establish Local Policing Fora within the Dublin Region, in line with the Garda Síochána Act 2005, and Guidelines produced by Minister for Justice and Law Reform. It is intended that these Fora should build on the learning from the Community Policing Forum which has been in operation in the North Inner City for the past eleven years, and which has been acknowledged ingovernment strategy as a model of good practice.

During the months of May and June I have met with Local Authority
Officials, Local Garda Management, Representatives from Community Groups and members of the local community in the Tallaght and Ronanstown areas to discuss and outline the establishment of the Local Policing Fora. These visits were met with a warm response and support from all concerned. It is my intention to continue these visits and assist in the establishment of the Local Policing Fora throughout the Dublin Region.

Local Policing Business Forum

The Garda Siochana Act 2005 brought about the establishment of Joint Policing Committees and allows each JPC to set up Local Policing Fora in either specific geographic areas, or to deal with a particular problem. In addition to establishing Local Policing Fora throughout the Dublin Region, I am proposing that a Local Policing Business Forum should be set up in the city centre area, covering the area from Parnell Square to St. Stephens Green and will facilitate the policing needs of the Business Community. This proposed forum is intended as a means of further co-ordinating policing service provision across the two city centre divisions and to build on the excellent co-operation which already exists between the business community, Dublin City Council and An Garda Siochana. Subject to your approval of this proposal, I am of the view that the proposed forum should be as inclusive as possible and that representatives of all the main stakeholder groups in that area should be invited to participate. The idea here is that by working together we can improve the quality of life in the city centre area
and address concerns which are sometimes voiced about crime levels in the area.
By working together in this way, I believe that we can all benefit from and enhanced city centre environment, with the positives which this can bring to business in the city.