Garda patrols have to chase high powered mobile gangs in Fiestas
Gardaí in Galway are chasing criminal gangs in high-powered vehicles with Ford Fiestas as the number of vehicles available to the force here has plummeted by 40% in the past three years.
And concern has been expressed by a Garda representative that some of the vehicles they have at their disposal cannot carry enough members to the scene of a major incident.
In recent weeks there have been a number of attacks on business premises in County Galway at a time when the number of Garda cars has fallen by 28 from 77 down to 49 since 2011.
That coupled with the closure and sell-off of rural Garda stations across the county has sparked renewed fears of a significant increase in rural crime.
“It is that bad on the ground and we are not in the business of frightening people”, commented Garda Representative Association Vice President Dermot O’Brien.
“We are looking at a 40% reduction in the number of Garda cars available to us over a three year period. That is a frightening statistic.
“We need more and more vehicles for members to do their work. Vehicles are the staple diet of any Garda force. The trouble is that the transportation is not out there”, said Garda O’Brien who is a member based in the traffic corps in Tuam.
See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune