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JUSTICE MINISTER HEATHER Humphreys has said incidences in which domestic abuse victims had their 999 calls erroneously cancelled “should not have happened”.
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris yesterday issued an apology to the hundreds of victims who had their 999 calls cancelled.
The exact extent of the issue is still unknown as an internal garda inquiry is “a work in progress”, but initial findings estimate some 312 victims had their calls cancelled before there was an appropriate policing response.
The commissioner also revealed that the inquiry has so far found the issue was caused by technological and procedural failings, as well as individual gardaí not adhering to procedures and policies.
Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Humphreys said “this should not have happened”.
“Any inappropriate cancellation of 999 calls is a very serious issue,” she said.
“What happened here is significantly below the high standards that the public expects of the gardaí and the standards that An Garda Síochána should set for themselves,” the Justice Minister added.
Humphreys said that “there are new processes in place to ensure that this never happens and that’s welcome”.
Meanwhile, Commissioner Harris held a public meeting with the Policing Authority yesterday to answer questions about the failure of gardaí to properly respond to emergency calls.
During the meeting, the authority’s chairman Bob Collins expressed “intense frustration” that it was not provided with information that was available to the gardaí.
Speaking to RTÉ’s Prime Time last night, Collins said the 999 revelations probably wouldn’t have come to light had the Policing Authority not put pressure on An Garda Síochána.
“There are two separate issues. One is the actual cancellation of calls. The second was the quality of service that was provided to people who make calls, the way in which they were responded to, the way in which they were listened to, the extent to which there was understanding for their stress and distress,” Collins said.
“Nobody rings 999 casually. It is a very significant decision to take. And I’m not at all satisfied that anything like enough has been done to deal with that issue,” he said.
Internal inquiry
The internal inquiry into the cancellation of domestic violence calls was set up when a victim of domestic violence raised concerns about the matter.
The inquiry, led by Assistant Commissioner Barry O’Brien, centred around the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system – an antiquated IT system that has been in operation since the 1980s.
O’Brien examined 3,000 calls in the two year period, with the interim report finding that about half of these calls were cancelled correctly but hundreds of calls were not.
Collins said yesterday that it’s “very clear” that it wasn’t a technical problem that caused the high rate of cancelled calls.
“There wasn’t nothing mechanically wrong to cause calls to be cancelled. It was the decisions of individuals which caused calls to be cancelled,” he said.
With reporting by Adam Daly
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This doesn’t surprise me. Back when I had a safety order against someone in 2013- I went to a Garda station in fear, despite this person not being allowed to come near or even threaten me- the Garda who took my statement- he laughed at me and said ‘Jesus it sounds like an episode of Eastenders’
I never felt so humiliated and was too shy to speak up. I was already broken by the abuse and then this comment by someone who’s meant to help just shut me up completely. I always regret not speaking up.
@Leah Nic an tSaoir: That sounds horrendous, I can’t even imagine how that must have felt. A representative of the Policing Authority was on Prime Time last night and adressed the issue of suitability numerous times. He felt while everyone was focused on the issue of cancelled calls this was equally as important an issue and believes that there are members of the force and civilian contractors who are simply not suited to their positions. You clearly had the misfortune to encounter one of these people.
@Leah Nic an tSaoir: that’s awful
@Eileen Murph: agree. Also . Not yo mention the abuse of power by many
@joan kelly: yep this is the real problem right there. No computer system will fix a total lack of understanding and proper policing care.
@Leah Nic an tSaoir: met a similar sort one time. Went in to the local garda station to report a theft and the guard rolled his eyes, sighed and said “I haven’t time for this **** today.”
Brillant. Another minister using the new political catch phrase in ireland.” That should not be happening “……someone needs to register that pronto and retire on the royalties…..lol.
The language being used on this topic is awful. “Shouldn’t have happened”, “Unfortunate”, “regrettable”. The words I’d be using is criminal, fireable, reprehensible. So many vulnerable people were left to be battered because those who should have come to their aid, were too lazy and selfish to do their job. If there were 22,000 patients that doctors avoided treating, or 22,000 ambulance calls that paramedics ignored, would we be using such impotent language?
@: They were too busy tracking down Johnny, who was spotted outside his 5km. The real crimes of last year.
Does any of these people accept responsibility anymore in their positions.i know if I messed up in my job I’d be dismissed.these people just carry on from one scandal to the next looking to blame somebody else.simply not good enough
Understatement. Underperformance. Women and children (mostly) again suffer under the boot of bad policy and and bad management.
This is disgraceful. No other way to describe it.
Heads should roll. Again. They won’t.
If you vote for FFG then you have to bear some responsibility for this and every other scandal with the guards in recent years. It’s pointless voting for the same parties while expecting a different outcome and then complaining when it doesn’t happen. If you keep voting them in you are responsible.
@Declan Doherty: what a nonsense comment. It’s like saying if you vote for SF your complicit in murder.
@Declan Doherty: Can you explain the exact issue that led to these calls being cancelled ? I ask because it would help clarify why you think it’s a political issue that wouldn’t have occurred under a government that didn’t involve FF or FG.
@David Duffy: If SF we’re knowingly murdering people and you voted for them to continue murdering then yes, you would have to bear some responsibility for that.
@Tommy Roche: You’re missing the point. This is just one of numerous scandals all underpinned by a chronic lack of accountability at all levels with government, the civil service and state bodies. It’s endemic in Irish politics and is a hallmark of successive FFG governments.
@Declan Doherty: nonsense.
“Should not have happened “Regrettable “. Phew , ok let’s move on to the next disgraceful episode in this great little country.
Once again – another major scandal and nobody taking accountability in government. I wonder how many publicans will continue to vote FF and FG at the next general election?
Either senior 1000’s of junior Gardai are responsible and need to face the consequences or
some senior gardai are responsible and need to face the consequences or
the minister is responsible and needs to step down.
These were people at their most vulnerable who were terribly let down by those who are supposed to protect them.
The buck has to stop with someone, first in line should always be the responsible minister.
There needs to be accountability in the gardai and across the civil service or this type of monumental mess up will continue over and over. As it stands the culture is one of no consequences.
Great headline, what’s next, “Doing something illegal is against the law, says justice minister”!
The Garda where on to much of a power trip collecting fines from people traviling outside the 5km rule. So they didn’t want to attend any other calls.
Garda a not showing up after being called, Garda missing from the streets for days, Garda not responding to 999 calls, kids running riot on the streets. I can’t even find how many Garda are assigned to the city, everything is a mystery. Their buildings are magnificent and cost millions. THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN, get rid of them all and go with a private company.
This must have been going on before it was highlighted as a result of the enquiry. It is just another example of the poor culture that has been like a chronic infection in this organisation. Hopefully it will also be a shining example of the work being done to drag it into the 21st Century.
And again no one is responsible and no consequences. He is sorry.
Irish MSM must be gutted they have to report on this story they avoided it long enough,imagine if we had a journalist that asked why is our garda commissioner lying trying to blame ‘outdated’ computers while it was individual garda on WhatsApp
No sh-it Sherlock. Accountability is what is needed now not path-etic over used sound bites. Meaningless words are of no use to these people who needed help and were ignored. Do your job find out how and why it happened and sack those responsible.
This has to be said. The amount of time that is wasted policing cannabis users could be put to better use. For example, instead of prosecuting a man for €4 worth of cannabis the guards could be responding to 999 calls. Jesus, its hard to believe that it actually has to be said.
The gardai in the past operated on the attitude of “don’t tell me how to do my job” and if you were left disappointed by an interaction with them you couldn’t really complain and basically got got a sassy attitude back.
One good thing about technology is that you can blame it over and over again but the bad thing is that it’s answers depend on who put in the info. So the less you use it, the less chance you have of being held accountable. So the GRA and AGSI say nowt. The problem here is people not computers. And most of those people are the buck passing politicians who will not properly train or resource or recruit adequate people. Civil/Public Servants are legally protected from dismissal if they do co#k up on the job. This has got to change. Drew Harris is doing a good job and calls for his resignation only let politicians and bad middle level management in the cops off the hook.
Who decided this was policy? The individual guarda or someone higher?
Any chance we could get some clarity on the nature of the cancelled calls? For instance if you come home from work and don’t get to your alarm keypad in time, the alarm company ring the gaurds. But then either they get there and realise or you ring to say its a false alarm. That’s a cancelled call. Are those types included in the overall figure? Also I think it’s in the public interest to know the circumstances of the calls of a serious nature being cancelled too.
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