The Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland met in plenary session on 20 and 21 September 2017.
On foot of the Commission's discussions, Commission Chair Kathleen O' Toole has written to the Minister for Justice and Equality setting out the Commission's view on the timeline for the appointment of the next Garda Commissioner and the immediate need to provide technical assistance to An Garda Síochána to accelerate reform. See here for the text of the letter to the Minister.
The Commission meeting also included:
- discussions with officials from the Department of Justice and Equality on policing governance and oversight, as well as State security, immigration and border control;
- meetings with management from the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission and the Garda Analysis Service to discuss their work in the context of the relevant areas of the Commission's terms of reference;
- consideration of the further roll-out of the Commission's public consultation process.
This follows meetings in previous months with the Minister for Justice and Equality, the Policing Authority and the Garda Inspectorate, as well as senior Garda management. Commission members are also engaged in field study visits and public consultations which will inform the Commission’s recommendations.
To date these have included visits to a number of Garda stations nationwide to draw on the experiences and expertise of frontline Garda staff, as well as engagement with urban and rural community representatives. A series of events and public meetings will be announced and further rolled out before the end of 2017.
