Garda vehicle numbers rise to more than 3,600 after force transformation
Following a transformation process which started in 2018, an information-led policing approach has seen the issue of 15,000 mobility devices which minimise the time it takes to retrieve information.
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Some 700 body-worn cameras are being piloted by officers while vehicle numbers have risen to 3,672 including new specialist vehicles such as two water cannon along with public order and community engagement vans.
Transforming An Garda Síochána 2018-2024 was formally launched at the Innovation Centre, Garda Headquarters, Phoenix Park, on Monday.
The Garda Emergency Response Unit and Regional Armed Support Units have received investment. Photo: Niall Carson/PA
It was compiled to provide an organisational account of the implementation of A Policing Service For Our Future (APSFF) programme.
It records the force's strength as of November 2024 as 14,054 Garda members, 3,689 Garda staff along with 319 Garda reserves.
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Among the changes recorded include a new operating model rolled out across 21 divisions which has established four functional areas within each division.
These are community engagement; performance assurance; crime; and business services functions, and is described as the biggest structural change in the history of the organisation.
Meanwhile the organisation's latest Public Attitudes Survey records public trust in An Garda Síochána at 89 per cent.
In the area of human rights, approximately 4,000 Garda personnel have become human rights champions having completed a University of Limerick accredited course in Policing and Human Rights Law in Ireland.
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In terms of health and well-being support, a 24/7 independent helpline and counselling service has been established, as well as 17 full-time employee assistance officers, 1,164 peer supporters, and 3,500 personnel have received mental health first aid training.
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris. Photo: PA
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Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said the report documents the transformation journey.
'It provides an opportunity to reflect on the work that has been done over these past seven years to bring about really meaningful change in our organisation. While we have made progress, there is more to do,' he said.
'And so, Garda Síochána will continue to adapt to the needs of the public and we remain committed to delivering a modern, community-focused policing service to the people of Ireland.'
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Pádraig Grogan, another cousin who ran a neighbouring farm and saw Joseph Grogan regularly, said he had been on holiday in the US when Mr Grogan died. He said his wife had sent text messages to Ms Flaherty to stay in touch, but there had been no response on August 14 or 15. They learned of Mr Grogan's death on he said. He had understood that his cousin had inoperable cancer and that there was no hope in his final months, he said. 'I would have loved to have known then that his results were so good from the oncologist, and to make sure that he knew it,' he told the inquest. 'Joe wanted to live.' Speaking following the verdict, Mr Tansey said that the focus of the Grogan family would now be on the validity of the marriage – which may involve a High Court challenge. Martin Keyes – a lorry driver, part-time undertaker and family friend – told the inquest he had taken the body to be embalmed just over four hours after Mr Grogan's death. He said he had been told by Mr Grogan's wife, Ms Flaherty that a doctor had released the body for the funeral. He agreed he had not seen a death certificate for Mr Grogan, who he had known since he was a child. He said he knew now, having attended the inquest earlier this month, that the doctor on call could not have given his consent for the body to be removed, as he was not Mr Grogan's treating GP. He also agreed that he had not reported the death to the gardaí or the coroner on the day it happened, as was his legal responsibility. He said he was not a member of the Irish Association of Funeral Directors, the rules of which state an undertaker requires medical confirmation of death. He said he was not regulated by any organisation. 'Why did you remove the body with such indecent haste to be embalmed?' Mr Tansey asked him. He replied: 'There was no haste. It was about 7.30pm by the time I took Joe Grogan to Longford. He died at 3pm I think.' Mr Tansey put it to Mr Keyes that Mr Grogan's death was 'sudden and unexpected' and the coroner had been sufficiently concerned to instruct the gardaí to go to Mr Grogan's house and escort the body to the Tullamore mortuary for a post-mortem examination. Asked why he had gone to Longford, when the court had heard there were other, closer embalming services, Mr Keyes replied: 'That's who we use.' He said the undertakers had not asked him for any paperwork. Mr Tansey asked: 'You know that embalming destroys tissues and so on in the body, such that it renders the post-mortem almost non-effective?' Mr Keyes replied that he did not know much about embalming before the inquest. He agreed that he now knew that the pathologist had been inhibited from finding the cause of Mr Grogan's death, and from determining if any drugs had caused his death. However, he said that what he had done was 'normal standard practice'. 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