Find your Local Community Policing Team

Community policing is the provision of a policing service to the whole community both urban and rural through a partnership based, proactive, problem solving style of policing. It is focused on community engagement, crime prevention and law enforcement and addresses crime and policing quality of life issues affecting communities.

An Garda Síochána’s Community Policing Objectives are:

1. To engage in partnership opportunities (e.g. JPC, Neighbourhood Watch, Community Alert, local policing fora, various retail fora, Business Watch)
2. To provide an accessible and visible Garda service to communities.
3. To establish effective engagement processes to meet the needs of local communities and provide feedback to communities.
4. To use problem-solving initiatives, devised in partnership with communities and local agencies, to tackle crime, drugs, public disorder and anti-social behaviour, through targeted enforcement, crime prevention and reduction initiatives.
5. To engage in a community-focused approach to provide solutions that reduces the fear of crime.
6. To engage meaningfully with young people to develop and foster positive relationships and promote personal and community safety.
7. To enhance communication strategies that articulate community policing objectives and outcomes.
8. To work in partnership with other agencies ensure safety on our streets and roads.
9. To be accountable to the community we serve.

A member can be deemed to be a ‘Community Garda’ where that member is allocated to a Community Policing Team (CPT) and is responsible and accountable for applying a problem–solving approach to appropriate crime and policing quality of life issues in a specified geographic area through partnership and engagement. In some rural areas, the existing personnel will form Community Policing Teams (CPTs).

They will have dual functions as first responders and community policing members. Community Gardaí are required to be proactive, in building positive partnerships, through initiatives such as Neighbourhood Watch, Community Alert, Campus Watch, Hospital Watch, Garda Clinics, Supporting Safer Communities Campaigns, Garda Schools Programme, etc.

Flexible engagement practices are required to cater for individuals, community groups and can ultimately lead to a community being empowered. The establishment of partnerships at local level should be seen as a co-operative effort to facilitate problem-solving.

The core functions of a Community Garda are:

1. Enforcing the law by adopting appropriate measures of sanction
2. Establishing and supporting community crime-prevention programmes
3. Patrolling effectively to reassure the community, reduce the fear of crime, and address quality of life issues
4. Working proactively in partnership with the community
5. Identifying and tackling the root causes of community issues by adopting problem-solving techniques
6. Improving interaction and communication between all sections of the community and An Garda Síochána.

If you have any specific queries in relation to the Framework of Community Policing the Garda National Community Policing Unit can be contacted at;

Garda National Community Engagement Bureau, Garda Headquarters, Phoenix Park Dublin 8 Tel: +353 1 666 3806/08/09