It’s A Fair Cop?

Exhale on main street…

t’s an increasingly common response whenever a call is put in to Greystones Garda station these days.

The squad car is already out on a call, chasing down a missing python in Newtown, and then sorting out a domestic in a field in Newcastle.

Then, hopefully, they should be with you.

Yesterday, a concerned GG reader got in touch about that day’s Irish Independent report on crime figures for Ireland in 2021.

Our boy wanted to point out that, despite Greystones having more crimes last year than Wicklow Town, we have “about half the number of gardaí“.

A point that GG has been trying to clarify for the last 48 hours. Calling Greystones Garda station, we’re told that all and any such queries have to go to the superintendent in Bray. So, we called Bray, and they told us that for station numbers, we’d have to get in touch with the Garda Press Office.

So, we got in touch with the Garda Press Office, and they quickly gave us a link revealing numbers for each county, and another link with just about everything you needed to know about An Garda Síochána except station numbers. For that, we were informed that we had to make a Freedom Of Information request.

We’re still waiting to hear back.

One problem, we’re told off the record, is that there’s often a difference between official numbers and actual numbers, as it seems gardaí can be on call for different stations.

What everyone we spoke to does agree on though is that the numbers for Greystones are very low right now. “Even for Greystones,” says one fairly reliable source.

“Add to that,” adds our concerned reader, “the dilapidated state of the Greystones station, and the increased red tape, and an already tough job has become even more difficult for our local gardaí.”

According to the report, four in every 10 garda stations in Ireland recorded an increase in crime last year, with just under 189,000 offences recorded across the country. In Greystones, crimes have dropped from 742 in 2017 to 526 in 2021, that total made up of assaults/threats at 35, burglary 40, drugs 59, criminal damage 52, dangerous driving 8, fraud 84, public order 55, theft 163 and other standing at 30. There were no reported robberies.

In Wicklow, crimes rose from 505 in 2017 to 520 in 2021, made up of assault/threats at 55, burglary 24, drugs 67, criminal damage a60, dangerous driving 24, fraud 71, public order at 63, robbery at 4, theft at 106 and other at 46.

In the whole of Wicklow there are 255 Garda, 42 sergeants, 10 inspectors and 3 superintendents.

And they’re all, no doubt, doing a bang-up job in trying to bang-up those neighbours who don’t quite believe in playing nice.

That Greystones needs more gardaí to keep the town safe agus sound hardly needs to be said. It just needs to happen now rather than too late.