Garda warning about spike in thefts of imported cars
A worrying spike in the theft of vehicles was highlighted at a meeting of Westmeath Joint Policing Committee (JPC) this week, with Chief Supt John Dollard warning that imported cars are being targeted.
Chief Supt Dollard told members that a lot of the cars imported from Japan “do not come with immobilisers” and this make them more susceptible to being broken into or stolen. “We would again urge people to make sure that their cars are locked at all times, even when they are outside their own properties,” he said.
The meeting also heard that there has been “quite a large reduction” in the number of residential burglaries since the last JPC meeting in January. However, in the area of sexual crime, Chief Supt Dollard said more and more people are coming forward to local Gardai to report sexual crime and added that there has been “a significant increase” in the reporting of such crime.
The Chief Supt was accompanied by two District Officers and two Superintendents at the JPC meeting, including Supt Michelle Baker from Athlone Garda Station.
Cllr John Dolan raised the issue of “organised begging” in Athlone and wanted to know if it might assist the Gardai in tacking this issue if the local authority were to bring in a bye-law to deal with people begging on the streets of Athlone.
“People are being bussed in to beg professionally in Athlone and they are following local people back to their cars and what's going on is totally unacceptable,” said Cllr Dolan. “Maybe we should bring in a bye-law to regulate the whole issue of people begging on the streets because it is very intimidating.”
Supt Michelle Baker said if Cllr Dolan or anyone else had “any evidence” that people are being brought into Athlone by bus to beg on the streets and that this activity is being organised in a professional manner “they should bring this evidence to An Garda Siochana and we will deal with it.”
Cllr Dolan also raised a number of other issues with the Garda representatives, including CCTV on the greenway and the possibility of a public defibrillator being placed outside the Garda Station in Athlone. He also asked if the cost of the defibrillator could be funded from Garda resources.
The Chef Supt said the “big issue” with CCTV relates to its use in public areas and the need to “manage privacy” but he said it plays “a very important role in the prevention and detection of crime.”
He added that he sits on an advisory board which makes recommendations to the Garda Commissioner about the use of CCTV. “If any application comes in from this neck of the woods I will be endorsing it wholeheartedly,” he added.
In relation to defibrillators, he said more and more Gardai are being trained in their use and he is “not opposed” to the idea of public defibrillators being placed outside Garda Stations. “This is life-saving equipment and the Gardai should know how to use it, so I am open to doing business on the matter,” he said.