'Low level' of complaints made to Fiosrú from Waterford, Police Ombudsman says
Deputy Police Ombudsman Brian Doherty and Police Ombudsman Emily Logan with WLCSP Chairperson Sean Aylward at Monday evening's public meeting.
Police Ombudsman Emily Logan met with the Waterford Local Community Safety Partnership (WLCSP) for the partnership's most recent public meeting at City Hall.
Fiosrú, the Office of the Police Ombudsman, is Ireland’s independent statutory body for police oversight, independently investigating complaints from members of the public about gardaí and examining serious incidents referred by the Garda Commissioner.
The Police Ombudsman was invited to give a presentation on the work of her office at the public meeting, where she was accompanied by Deputy Police Ombudsman Brian Doherty.
The Police Ombudsman outlined the role and function of Fiosrú, including how it investigates complaints and the important role of a new complaints resolution channel in ensuring that complainants feel they have been listened to by gardaí.
At the meeting the Police Ombudsman commended the partnership for their commitment to community safety in Waterford, saying, "It is heartening to see the collaboration at community level to identify and tackle local community safety issues.”
The Police Ombudsman noted that the Waterford LCSP was one of the first piloted partnerships among a total of 36 set up under the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024.
She also noted that in Waterford only 77 complaints had been made to Fiosrú for investigation in their first year of data, covering nine months of activity, despite the large number of arrests in Waterford.
Waterford Garda Station, according to The Police Ombudsman, has more arrests than the combined number of both Tallaght and Blanchardstown Garda Stations, two stations which would be considered very busy.
The number of complaints does not determine the policing of an area, she said, as it is only the number of people who have felt confident enough to come forward with a complaint.
In the nine months of data shared at the meeting, Deputy Police Ombudsman Brian Doherty outlined the specifics of the Waterford complaints.
Of the 77 complaints made within that time, they largely related to Garda investigations for rural traffic matters.
Over half of the complaints, 40 of 77, were inadmissible for some reason or other, the Deputy Police Ombudsman said.
Of the 37 remaining complaints, 16 were sent to the resolution process, and 11 were investigated for potential misconduct and 10 for potential criminality.
Overall, there were "a relatively low level of complaints, especially for such a busy station".
