Have You got a Police Record?

Of course I have - Walking on the Moon. It's an old one. I want to dispel a notion that might have got abroad. Some people might think that, because I write at such length and with such vitriol about the Fukkin' Gyards that I have an obsession with them. No I haven't. I think it only fair to say that An Garda Siochana, both past and present, counts amongst its ranks a fine array of men and women, most of whom operate to the highest standards of professionalism and who would be a credit to the police force of ANY country. Others still have made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty. And what is this duty? Nothing less than the protection of the people of Ireland.

Yet we have a situation, as seems to exist in Ireland now, where a minority, though a considerable one, of the police force is at the very least inept and at the very worst corrupt. We have a minister for justice who is an intellectual captive of his clerico-fascist mandarins, who doesn't really want to alienate the police force, lest they prove eventually unwilling to take on the real enemy of McDowell and his cronies, the poor and the unemployed. People are afraid to speak out for fear of attracting victimisation on themselves and their families. And who can the public complain to? Who watches the watchers?

I remember a former teacher of mine. He was called Father (not Doctor) Phil, though some of us unkindly referred to him as Pudgy - I can't think why. A favourite comment of his was that it only takes one bad apple to send the whole barrel rotten. That is a comment which can be made about An Garda Siochana. It only takes one "bent copper" to undo the great work done by others, and to tarnish their bravery and selflessness. But the culture of indiscipline comes from the top, from the most senior ranks. They have routinely failed to root out the bad apples; indeed. they've often denied their very existence.

I am not some anarchist hot-head. I believe in police forces. Maybe their continued existence reflects upon the human race's continued weakness and its inability to regulate its activities to the benefit of all without harming others. An efficient, professional police force enjoying the confidence of all sections, and I mean all sections, of the community, is a sine qua non of any society which pretends to be either liberal or democratic. Such a body not only deserves the resepct of the citizenry, but should be able to demand it as a duty of citizenship. I want a police force of which I as an Irish citizen can be proud. Speaking selfishly I want a force which responds to concerns I may have about people loitering at the bottom of my garden, which does not attempt to mow me down when crossing a street in my wheel-chair, whose members train cameras on criminals and not peaceful protesters, whose members do not indulge in a litany of racist comments about people from overseas. You might say that what I want is a respectable police force, not one that sounds as if it is made up of sewer rats.
I believe that such a police force is possible in Ireland. But then I used to believe in Father Christmas.