The Minister for Justice, Heather Humphreys TD, has today welcomed the publication of the 2020 Annual Report of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC).
The report notes that GSOC opened 1,955 complaints in 2020, an 11% increase on the 2019 total. The report indicates that this increase may have been due, at least in part, to interactions between members of the public and Gardaí tasked with enforcing COVID-19 restrictions. A total of 295 complaints to GSOC mentioned COVID-19. 68 were found to be inadmissible, 50 were admitted for investigation, 24 were still open at the end of the year, and the majority of the remainder failed to provide sufficient detail to allow the complaint be considered for admissibility.
Overall, the most common circumstances giving rise to complaints over the course of the year were road policing incidents (16%), the conduct of investigations by Gardaí (13%), customer service by Gardaí (13%) and conduct of Gardaí when searching property and/or persons (13%).
Minister Humphreys said,
“I want to commend the staff of GSOC and its Chairperson, Justice Mary Ellen Ring, for their work over the course of 2020. The year was defined by the COVID-19 pandemic and, with it, a substantial number of temporary powers for An Garda Síochána as they assisted with the enforcement of the related public health regulations. For many people, this has led to a greater level of interaction with Gardaí than would ordinarily be the case.
“GSOC has played a key role in ensuring an effective complaints handling system is in place to hold Gardaí accountable for how they exercise these and other powers. This is important in ensuring that members of An Garda Síochána exercise their powers and discretion to the highest standards of competence, fairness and honesty.”
A total of 3,089 allegations were contained within the 1,955 complaints received. Of the complaints received, 1,264 were admitted for investigation, while 687 were deemed inadmissible, leaving a total of 572 criminal investigations opened in 2020.
GSOC received 43 referrals from the Garda Commissioner under section 102 (1) of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, which refers to instances where the conduct of a member of the Garda Síochána may have resulted in the death of, or serious harm to, a person. Twenty of the referrals related to fatalities, including seven fatalities relating to road traffic incidents.
On 30 December 2020, George Nkencho died after being shot by a member of An Garda Síochána. The death was referred to GSOC in accordance with section 102 of the Act, and an investigation into the circumstances of the shooting began immediately. This investigation is currently ongoing.
GSOC referred 27 files to the DPP, of which there were 7 directions for prosecution from 6 files. There were 77 sanctions imposed by the Garda Commissioner on individual Gardaí following complaints to and/or investigations by GSOC.
In line with the recommendations of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland, the role of GSOC will evolve and be further developed over the coming years through the reforms to be brought forward under the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill, the general scheme of which was recently published.
The Minister added:
“Throughout 2020, work continued on planning and preparing for the far-reaching changes to the police oversight environment which will take place over the coming years in line with the recommendations of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. This work has included significant engagement between the Commission and my officials in reviewing GSOC's structure and processes. In that regard, I would again like to thank the former Commissioners Patrick Sullivan and Kieran Fitzgerald. I also look forward to continuing this work with the Commission and its newer members, Emily Logan and Hugh Hume.”
ENDS…/
Notes for Editors:
The GSOC Annual Report 2020 will shortly be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas, as required by legislation and published on the website of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission http://www.gardaombudsman.ie/
GSOC is an independent statutory body, established under the Garda Síochána Act 2005, as amended. GSOC’s primary responsibility is to deal with complaints made by members of the public concerning the conduct of members of An Garda Síochána. GSOC also has a number of other functions including public interest investigations and examination of certain Garda practices, policies or procedures.
GSOC may investigate allegations of misconduct by members of An Garda Síochána in a number of ways – by way of a criminal investigation managed wholly by GSOC; through non-criminal investigations conducted by GSOC; through disciplinary investigations conducted by a Garda Superintendent under GSOC supervision and through disciplinary investigations conducted by a Garda Superintendent unsupervised by GSOC.
The allocated budget for GSOC in 2020 was €11.18 million with actual expenditure of €11.12 million. As at the 31 December 2020, the staffing numbers of GSOC was 127.