THE suburb of Garryowen in Limerick City meets the threshold – from a crime statistics perspective – to warrant CCTV cameras, Gardaí said at a public meeting this week.
Two houses, both located on Sarsfield Avenue in Garryowen, were gutted in separate fires within a week of each other last November. Not long before that, a man aged in his 40s was found unresponsive at the same location and pronounced dead a short time later.
Speaking at a Joint Policing Sub-Committee of the Metropolitan District meeting this week, Fianna Fáil councillor Kieran O’Hanlon highlighted the urgent need for cameras to deal with anti-social behaviour and crime in the area.
“It’s great to see ye are on top of some very serious criminals here in Limerick, and I know ye have had some success in the courts recently. I would like to say a lot more about some of the individuals, but I won’t. But I would like to speak about cameras in Garryowen,” Cllr O’Hanlon told attending members of An Garda Síochána.
Cllr O’Hanlon said that he had been working with council officials and Gardaí to bring about the installation of cameras in Garryowen, claiming that cameras have been proven as a successful deterrent to crime in other areas of the city.
“Everybody wants cameras because they are very effective and a deterrent to some of the criminals who will go away from an area if they know there’s cameras there. In addition to that, from speaking to Gardaí, they are very helpful in identifying some of the individuals who are committing serious crime.
“But in the Garryowen area in the past 12 months, we have had quite a number of serious incidents,” Cllr O’Hanlon said, recounting the incidents of arson and fatal assault in November.
“It is absolutely appalling that this would happen in a settled community and it is very frightening for the neighbours in the area.
“We need cameras,” he insisted.
The former Limerick Mayor went on to call for CCTV cameras in the Garryowen area to be fast-tracked as a matter of urgency.
“I know there’s an election coming up and I have gone through a few elections. I have seen councillors promising cameras for Garryowen and other areas when there was no evidence cameras were going to be provided. But I really think, above all places in Limerick, that Garryowen needs to be fast-tracked because it is a settled area and I want it to remain that way.
“There’s a few serious families there that are involved in criminality, mostly drugs. I think if cameras are put in place it will sort those individuals out,” he added.
Superintendent Andrew Lacey, of Henry Street Garda Station, told Cllr O’Hanlon that Gardaí fully recognise the need and are actively pursuing CCTV cameras for the area. Gardaí, he revealed, are to meet with the council next week on the matter.
”It is one of the areas that does need full examination,” Superintendent Lacey said.
“The mapping element is finished with Garryowen, which is where we will have the cameras – if they are to be got. I can tell you that from a crime statistics perspective, the threshold is certainly met and that is the biggest barrier.
“We did find there was a gap in relation to our operations in the Garryowen area because we knew there was persons there who were heavily involved but we didn’t have camera access that would have supported our investigations. That’s the stage where it is at. It is very active.”
Superintendent Lacey said the proposal will go before the Garda CCTV Advisory Committee, where the Commissioner and the Data Protection Officer will make a decision.
“As I said, the biggest obstacle in regards crime stats is met. The areas and the locations have been agreed, so now it is about going through the process,” he concluded.
