We are facing into a General Election on February 8th. One of the key functions of AGSI as a representative body is to advocate for the Sergeants and Inspectors of our Association.
As an Association we cannot remain silent following the shocking levels of violence that have beset Irish society over the past number of days. We have to reiterate our previous call for more resourcing into An Garda Síochána as a matter of urgency.
Keeping Communities Safe Must Be a Political Priority
We must highlight shortcomings and resource issues that inhibit us from doing our job to the best of our ability.
We believe we must keep justice and Garda matters to the fore during this election campaign period.
We are asking all candidates to state their commitment to local policing. An Garda Síochána is undergoing significant reform and we believe all future and current Garda Reform plans including the Operating Policing Model should be fully costed prior to implementation.
As an Association, and taking into consideration the shocking levels of violence that have emerged in Irish society over the last number of months, our advocacy will focus on four key areas:
- The safety of our own members as first responders to the many violent and aggressive incidents that are happening all too often.
- The funding available to the Garda organisation to ensure we are provided with up-to -date training, equipment, accommodation and fleet to do our job to the highest possible standard.
- We also wish to ask politicians if they understand the current Operating Policing Model that is being rolled out, and how this might affect the policing of communities in their constituency.
How you can get involved
1. Ask election candidates at the door and in the community to make policing a priority, ask for their commitment, tell them about our campaign and your own experiences as an AGSI member.
2. Ask them why they believe the new Operating Policing Model is the best model for policing local communities.
3. Encourage family members to do the same.
4. If you are on Twitter please retweet our Tweets about this campaign. We will be using the hashtag #LocalPolicingMatters. Our Twitter handle is AGSI_Ireland.
5. Share this web page with your contacts and ask them to share it on their social networks.
6. We are going to be doing pro-active media outreach so listen and watch out for AGSI on radio, in print and on online media.
We need our political leaders to understand the reality for our members @LeoVaradkar @CharlieFlanagan @MichealMartinTD @OCallaghanJim #LocalPolicingMatters #GE2020 https://t.co/kVxNK4NeIl
— AGSI (@AGSI_Ireland) January 18, 2020
As always, your support is greatly appreciated. We must make policing and justice a priority for the next Government.
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