Over 2,000 gardai have been assaulted while on duty in the past seven years, new figures show, as Fine Gael calls for the introduction of bodycam equipment.
There has been a steady increase in assaults against gardai in recent years as 2,080 gardai on active duty were assaulted between 2015 and 2022, according to figures seen by Dublin Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell.
This includes 509 assaulted members of the force in the Dublin metropolitan region alone. Deputy Alan, who is the party spokesperson on justice, said: "These heinous attacks are an attack not just on the individual but on communities as a whole."
Separate figures from the Garda Employee Management System show that last year saw the highest number of gardai assaulted over a ten year period, with 305 on-duty gardai sustaining injury following an assault.
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The Fingal TD added that An Garda Siochana "regularly see racially motivated abuse and harassment against gardai from a minority background", with some of these incidents then posted on social media.
The Fine Gael’s Justice spokesperson called for increased sentences for assaults causing harm to gardai and emergency service workers. He also said that Government is committed to "taking further action" to protect gardai and frontline workers.
He argued bodycams will be "vital" in terms of protecting gardai and "for evidence of the nature of assaults and incidents that they are facing". He added: "It also makes little sense that the only individual involved in a confrontation with a member of the force who is without a camera and with footage of the incident is the gardai themselves – this puts them in a more vulnerable position."
Deputy Farrell said Fine Gael are proposing bodycam technology “fully in line with all of our constitutional, European and international obligations to the rights of our people”.
Police forces in 11 European countries are using bodycams, including Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
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