THERE has been an 84 per cent rise in the number of complaints made by the public about members of An Garda Siochána in Donegal.
That’s according to the Garda Siochána’s Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) annual report for 2020, which reveals 105 allegations were made about gardaí in Donegal and referred to GSOC. That’s significantly up compared to the 57 allegations made to GSOC in 2019.
The highest number of allegations were in Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR), where 1,006 allegations were made to GSOC. Outside of Dublin, the highest number of allegations were made about Cork City (146), Louth (144) and Kerry Division (119).
Three of the most common circumstances which gave rise to complaints in 2020 were road policing by gardaí, search (person or property) and conduct of investigations by gardaí.
Two referrals were made about members of the Donegal Garda Division last year – a rise of one from 2019.
Profile
A profile of people who complained in 2020 reveals males made up the highest gender of those who complained (57 per cent), while females accounted for 42 per cent. Those in the age demographic of 41 and 50 years accounted for the highest number of complaints (31 per cent) followed by those aged between 31 and 40 years (29 per cent). Just two per cent of 18 to 30 year olds made complaints. In terms of nationality and religion, Irish Roman Catholic citizens made the most complaints, at 81 per cent and 53 per cent respectively.
The report states: “In the year under review and against the backdrop of the global pandemic, GSOC’s central functions of receiving and investigating complaints were maintained without interruption, with the organisation recording a significant increase in complaints with 1,995 in 2020 compared with 1, 756 in 2019.”
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