District Community Alert Committee in Offaly meets with local Gardai
Community alert organisations in Clareen, Aghancon, Coolderry, Birr, Banagher, Ferbane, Belmont and Cloghan represented
BIRR District Community Alert Committee met with Birr Gardai in Aghancon Community Centre on Monday April 22nd.
Birr District Community Alert Committee formed in 2022 with the aim of meeting regularly with our local Garda management in Birr.
Pat McLoughlin, the group chairperson, explained “We formed because community alerts and text alerts seemed to be on a downward spiral. We thought our role would work better if we were talking directly with the guards in the district where we're active."
The grouping includes representatives from community alert organisations in Clareen, Aghancon, Coolderry, Birr, Banagher, Ferbane, Belmont and Cloghan.
Councillor John Clendennen attended as a representative from the Offaly Joint Policing Committee. Among the topics of concern to communities discussed were Graffiti in Birr, Update on Property Marking, Trespass, and Illegal hunting. It was brought to the attention of the meeting that there is a service from An Garda Siochana to assist individuals, communities or business embarking on a development to review the plans with a view to designing out crime.
GardaSAFE, the new 999 dispatch system, which came into use earlier this year, was discussed with feedback from members of the public who have used it and from Birr Gardai being positive about the performance of the system. The situation where some communities within the Birr Garda District do not have a community alert group and therefore do not get text alerts was highlighted.
Inspector Kerin told the meeting that there have been situations where they sent out a text alert knowing that the area is not covered. The best they can hope for is that some one from a community with text alert is visiting the affected area and may be able to respond to the alert.
Councillor Clendennen discussed several issues with the group including changes with the Joint Policing Committee (JPC) being replaced by a new structure called Local Community Safety Partnership (LCSP); and recent legislation and its likely impact on how community CCTV is managed. Groups present who have been working on community CCTV for their areas express a concern that their existing work would be considered when the new approach is rolled out. Councillor Clendennen reminded everyone of the importance of knowing your Eircode and to use the See it Say it App to report incidents of dumping.
The meeting ended with the Chairperson thanking Aghancon Community Alert for hosting the meeting.