New Cork city community policing van initiative launched

Gardaí in Cork have launched a community policing van initiative in conjunction with increased patrols ahead of the Christmas period.

At a launch event yesterday on Patrick Street, Inspector James Hallahan of Anglesea Street Garda Station spoke to The Echo, saying that the campaign is aimed at curbing anti-social behaviour in addition to providing an increased presence of gardaí within the city centre.

“Our policy the last couple of months has been increasing visibility in the city centre, and we will continue to do that over the next number of months,” said Insp Hallahan.

Visible presence

“The van in itself is a visible presence. It discourages antisocial behavior in the area, because we can be more reactive to it.

“It is part of our Christmas campaign, we will have increased patrols in around the city centre for both day-time and night-time, to reassure the public that Cork is a safe place to visit.

“We’ll have increased patrols to seven days a week, with longer hours during Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, taking into account late openings. We’ll be looking at increasing the patrols for the nighttime economy as well.

“It’s proactive, it’s visible, it’s something that the public want to see and that’s something that we’re addressing.”

Insp Hallahan further explained that the community policing van is open to the public for a range of issues from reporting minor infractions, such as shoplifting, to making general everyday queries.

The van is fully equipped with surround CCTV and it also has a private seating area where individuals can interact with on-duty gardaí.