GARDAÍ launched their Christmas operation this week, in an attempt to increase visibility on the streets of Limerick and crack down on shoplifting, aggressive begging, and drug-related crime.
Gardaí from Henry Street Garda Station are working in collaboration with Mayor John Moran and Limerick City and County Council as part of the operation.
The Christmas policing operation aims to tackle shoplifting, begging, and drug-related criminal activity on the streets of Limerick City, with 200 additional policing hours under the crackdown being funded by the Mayor’s Fund.
Gardaí will be policing the city until later evening hours daily across the Christmas period to tackle anti-social activity.
Superintendent Andrew Lacey of Henry Street Garda Station said the Christmas policing operation comes on the back of months of meetings with city centre traders and stakeholders.
“Keeping people safe while shopping and socialising is our priority. We have had periodic meetings with our city centre traders and business over the last six months and we have explored the substantive problems that they are experiencing and we are working together to develop and evaluate tailor-made responses that our Gardaí on the ground are implementing,” he said.
The Henry Street Superintendent said that meetings locally were “extremely honest and open where we listen to the challenges businesses are experiencing”.
“From the policing perspective, we outlined our operational capacity and informed stakeholders of our initiatives, which support the problem oriented policing and harm reduction models we have in place in the Limerick City North Community Engagement area,” he said.
Mayor of Limerick John Moran said that the Christmas policing operation will help to make the city a safer and more comfortable place for all over the festive season.
“Limerick City and County Council’s enhanced collaboration with An Garda Síochána reinforces our shared commitment to making Limerick a secure and welcoming place for all. A safer, more community-driven Limerick is a key objective of the Limerick mayoral programme,” Mayor Moran stated.
“Together, we are focussed on delivering measures that improve people’s sense of personal safety on our streets, and we are delighted to fund additional policing resources over the Christmas period.”
Community wardens are also set to return to the streets in the new year, the Mayor said, with an additional 200 hours of Garda patrols funded by the Mayor’s Fund.
“In advance of the introduction of community wardens on our streets in 2025, I am delighted to be able to contribute the funding which makes it possible to add 200 hours of extra Garda patrol time for Christmas,” Mayor Moran added.
