Police in Galway

As some of you may remember, I made a post here previously about an experience I had with having to phone an ambulance for some stupid possibly-drugged up american teenager.

Recently, possibly a few days ago, I'm not entirely sure, I was sitting in Eyre Square on the grass under a tree. Being the typical 'Sun-bum' that I can be (and no, I wasn't tanning my arse before anyone says it <evil glance at RHG>). When suddenly I hear this commotion. Somebody shouting. So I look over by the small (crappy) park. Just by the benches, near where the JFK Memorial (I think its the JFK Memorial?) is, there's 6 guys standing there. 4 guys, an old looking guy, and someone supported by a pair of crutches. One of the 4 is shouting at the old man. Swearing his head off. He starts shouting, "Give it to me, give it to me", and grabs one of the crutches from the guy who's supported by them. He falls to the ground instantly and hard. He stays there for a few minutes, not moving.

The guy with the crutch then proceeds to whack the old man across the head, while his other 3 friends stand there. One pulls off his jacket and makes menacing movements towards random people that attempt to come close. Eyre Square, being the absolutely pictureperfect day it was, is packed. I don't approach for fear of my own life. Nobodies moving close to help the old man. And he continues to be whacked, possibly about 10 times in total, across the head. The resulting force cracking the crutch in 2.

Eventually, after much threats of being shot, the 4 men then walk away. Only at this point does a single police officer come into the scene. Breathless and panting. He runs over to the 2 remaining people. At this point some people had approached them. The guy who was on the crutches was sitting on one of the benches, whilst the old man, bleeding proffousely (damn hard word to spell) from the side of his head, stands in front of him. The guard, after much discussion with himself, approaches. He stands there and says nothing, until finally he talks to the 2 men and takes statements.

Finally, a squad car pulls into the square, stays there for a moment, and drives away. All of this whilst the 4 men were still visible.

So I ask you this, are the guards adequate in Galway? Walking around town lately, you would see about 4/5 guards walking together down Shop Street. When they see a crowd around a busker, they are more than willing to move in and disperse them, and yet when someone is in the midst of a violent attack, they only send 1. Stange.

biko

A square full of people just staring as someone is getting attacked, that's the real question here.

And also, there should be a Garda precence at the square anyway. Particularly in the evenings/ nights.

Amazotheamazing

No worse than Gardai elsewhere, I remember walking down shop street on Paddy's Day 2 years ago at about 6 and seeing guards actually avoid looking at underage drinkers so they wouldn't have to deal with them.

legologic

I was only in Galway for the first time last weekend for the film fleadh. I did notice a distinct lack of gardai around Eyre Square. My whole night out I didn't see one! I'm not sure if this is the norm but when you considder this is slap bang the middle of summer, middle of a festival, that does not bode well.

biko

I saw two yesterday at the Cross street concert. They seemed to enjoy the music.

herbieflowers

where's the JFK memorial?

rabbitinlights

Im linking two stories here, but that sounds like they were homeless, A mate of mine works in the fair Green had to clean up a guy who got a bad beating in the sq (Broken eye Socket) on friday.

BrokenArrows

I cant believe noone jumped in and stopped them beating the **** out of an old guy.

Screw the fact that they would be out numbered, you dont just stand around and let that happen.

padi89

Personaly i wouldnt go near them , i take it they were bums or scumbags so i wouldnt be too keen on getting a knife pulled on me as is all too comon these days.

Definite lack of Garda presence around the city centre especially at this time of year.

padi89

BrokenArrows wrote:

I cant believe noone jumped in and stopped them beating the **** out of an old guy.

Screw the fact that they would be out numbered, you dont just stand around and let that happen.

Probably because people had the cop on to stay out of it.It would have been nice to save the old guy from a hammering but you do not know the guys that were doing it or why they were doing it.Jump in and you run a serious risk of getting hurt not to mention the fact that your probably going to be in for a beating sometime yourself for getting involved when you least expect it.
Galway has some really nasty characters around and you certainly dont want to be watching over your shoulders everytime you leave your house.

Amazotheamazing

No offence Padi89, but everyone took that attitude these thugs will be able to act with impunity, and they'll get worse. Seriously, it's up to all Galwegians, not just the guards, to ensure Galway stays safe.

Sleipnir

Amazotheamazing wrote:

No offence Padi89, but everyone took that attitude these thugs will be able to act with impunity, and they'll get worse. Seriously, it's up to all Galwegians, not just the guards, to ensure Galway stays safe.

Don't they already act with impunity? Given the above story?

Anyone remember the news when a man went out his front door to help a guy who was being beaten up and was murdered in his driveway?

I'm not saying you shouldn't help but what are you suggesting; that one person goes up to a group of hard nuts and tells them to **** off? You first mate.

biko

Sleipnir wrote:

Anyone remember the news when a man went out his front door to help a guy who was being beaten up and was murdered in his driveway?

Was that here in Galway?

What happened is called Bystander effect.

Amazotheamazing

biko wrote:

Was that here in Galway?

What happened is called Bystander effect.

I remember it happened in Dublin about 2 years ago, don't think it's ever happen in Galway.

Sleipnir, do you think sitting back and doing nothing is a better option?

padi89

Amazotheamazing wrote:

No offence Padi89, but everyone took that attitude these thugs will be able to act with impunity, and they'll get worse. Seriously, it's up to all Galwegians, not just the guards, to ensure Galway stays safe.

No offence taken,no need to say that,your intitled to your view.Its up to Galwegians to report whats happening and give witness accounts so "the professionals" can get involved in the physical aspect of the situation.Im sure there were already a large number of people in the square that witnessed the event but stayed out of it for good reason.I think attacking people in broad day light in the buisiest part of Galway proves that they have already gotten worse and are NOT the type of people to get involved with.I am sure these plonkers are well known to the guards and its up to them to resolve the situation or do whatever nessecary.
Random members of the public getting involved in this situation is just going to escalate an already dangerous situation.Its highly likely that one or more is going to end up being assaulted too or have something more serious happen.

Calling the guards is a much better and safer option than approaching 4 lunatics with god knows what capabilities.If they have no problem beating some guy up in broad daylight then they certainly wont have any issue with turning on a member of the public.

TerrorFirmer

I understand what both sides are saying but personally I'd agree with "Stay out of it."

Thats not on the ground of "Its not my business so I don't care" but simply because, as someone said, you don't know what these guys could be carrying and for all your troubles, samaritan aspiring as they may be, would anyone here be willing to risk their life?

It might be considered an exaggerated statement by some but to be honest its happened a few times in the past and no doubt it'll happen again.

Anyway, so the guards are inefficent in Galway, hardly breaking news, eh? I can't imagine how many times I've actually seen the law broken literally right under the nose of the Gardai, they seem to have this attitude of "Ah sure we'll step in if it doesn't sort itself out" as opposed to actually preventing and punishing disturbances/crimes.

That said I'm sure there are a few great dedicated ones around the place too but sadly when you hear of a successful Garda operation you don't pass any notice, whereas when you hear something that is lacking - like this occassion - your first thought is pretty much automatically "typical bloody useless gardai..."

K_user

Interesting story and I really can’t say that I’m that surprised. While the Guards do a great job in general, they really aren’t all that effective as a peace keeping force.

And if you think that stories bad, you’ll love this one! A few years back, around January ’99, I read an article in one of the local Galway papers and it has stuck with me since. One night, around 1 in the morning, a fight broke out in Abrakadabra (sp?) in Eyre Square. Nothing too shocking there. On this occasion a young woman ran outside spotted a Guard and called out to him. He shrugged and kept going. She ran after him, told him what was going on and asked for help. He told her that there was nothing that could be done and kept walking. She went after him again. For her trouble she was arrested and charged. When brought to court she was told that it wasn’t up to the public to demand the assistance of the police; that it was their choice to act on any information…

awhir

i think the people who say "stay out" are not very physical but i would say the prople who say "jump and help the innconcent people" are right

omg i stringed a whole sentence together.

timeout

Well jumping in and helping out is all good and well but in these days of irish court systems you will more then likely end up in jail for assault or being sued for personal injury to the guys.

Sleipnir

Amazotheamazing wrote:

I remember it happened in Dublin about 2 years ago, don't think it's ever happen in Galway.

Sleipnir, do you think sitting back and doing nothing is a better option?

I have two kids who need their father around. What happens if I go to help some fella and get stabbed in the back for it?
Will my kids push my wheelchair around for the rest of my days? How irresponsible would that be?

Personally, I can remember one instance of this in Galway where I found two guys kicking some fella in the head. I just pushed them off and dragged yer man to the kerb. Then the police showed up and said it was a family feud of some sort.

If there's a group of people willing to help then that's a different story but one person taking on 5? That would be irresponsible to my kids and pretty
****ing stupid too. I know ye're all heroes but how many times have you jumped in to save the day with the odds heavily stacked against you? Count them and post.

Amazotheamazing wrote:

i think the people who say "stay out" are not very physical

I've been attacked 3 times and each time, one punch has ended the situation.
I'm not superman but I'm well capable of defending myself.

BrokenArrows

Ive jumped in once with the odds stacked against me.
Got my ass kicked for it but i dont regret doing it.

biko

padi89 wrote:

Calling the guards is a much better and safer option than approaching 4 lunatics with god knows what capabilities.If they have no problem beating some guy up in broad daylight then they certainly wont have any issue with turning on a member of the public.

1) The guy they beat up was already a member of the public. You make it sound like it's "us" and "them".

2) What if the victim is yourself? If it was me suckerpunched and beaten while down I'd sure appriciate someone coming to my aid.

The law allows you to use force to defend another member of the public. You can also justify force by claiming you were afriad of your life. For instance if you whack a mean bastard over the head with a showel you can claim that you were afraid that he would kill you. Not condoning this behaviour.

If you feel that you are not up to it, just get your camera/phone out and snap the buggers.

These sh*tes are like wolves, if the herd will not come together they will get to us one by one.

Btw, I've stepped in several times and broken fights. Not yet hurt *crosses self*.

padi89

awhir wrote:

i think the people who say "stay out" are not very physical

Thats laughable and a complete generalisation.

padi89

biko wrote:

1) The guy they beat up was already a member of the public. You make it sound like it's "us" and "them".

2) What if the victim is yourself? If it was me suckerpunched and beaten while down I'd sure appriciate someone coming to my aid.

The law allows you to use force to defend another member of the public. You can also justify force by claiming you were afriad of your life. For instance if you whack a mean bastard over the head with a showel you can claim that you were afraid that he would kill you. Not condoning this behaviour.

If you feel that you are not up to it, just get your camera/phone out and snap the buggers.

These sh*tes are like wolves, if the herd will not come together they will get to us one by one.

1.Let me rephrase "member of the public willing to jump in".The guys that beat him up were also members of the public but its highly likely they were all linked together.

2.Been there ,and the only people that jumped in were my mates i wouldnt expect anyone else to although plenty of people were around.As much as you would like to think it would happen,it wont.My injuries were so bad i had to be sent down to Limerick for scans and this happened in the town centre.

Having said all that its easy to say you would jump in here but realistically its not going to happen.After all im sure there was a large crowd in the square,im sure a few people there would have fancied themselves as heros here but it obviously didnt happen there?

If the worst that could happen to you by jumping in was get a couple of slaps and a broken nose then fair enough thats up to yourself. However there is the chance you could end up with a serious life changing injury.

po0k

This thread is off-topic.

No-one cares who's fronting as a hero here. Please stop dealing in hypotheses.
The thread is about the Gardaí in Galway (and the country in general), and the shíte state of affairs we [willfully?] live in.

Society's values have been cheapened, life is a commodity and we're all responsible for making things better.

Turn off your TV, break your mirror and visit your neighbour.

biko

SyxPak wrote:

The thread is about the Gardaí in Galway (and the country in general), and the shíte state of affairs we [willfully?] live in.

Ok, back on topic. Sure there could be more guards but isn't it a case of "they are never there when you need them"?

It's a catch 22, you want one around when things get heavy but not when you're having cans at the square or just parked in the wrong spot for a second to run into the shop.

A small force can be effective enough. The Gardai are wise enough to know where and when the problems usually occur. It's the odd occurence, at mid-day in the square that's the problem, you never know it's gonna happen.

That said I think that there should be a patrol in the city (Shop Street/the Square) at all times between 5pm and 4am. Even a single guard can be enough to deter/stop fights.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this previously, but I had spotted the 4 guys again at the bottom of Eyre Square near Red Square just as the guard had come over. They were basically watching what was going on. I would have gone over, and given a statement, but was glad I didn't, as 30 minutes later the 4 men returned once more to the exact same spot. Once I saw them the second time, I was going to ring the guards to inform them of this, but realised that it would be pointless unless something actually happens. There's no law necessarily against people standing around, as I wouldn't be able to prove anything. And even then I'd be putting myself in danger.

Actually, yesterday I was walking down shop street with a friend, and one of the 4 passed. Christ, he was a scary looking bastard.

But even if the guards did witness what had happened, the question still remains; would they be willing to do anything to stop it?

herbieflowers

Surely they would do something about it. I mean, yes the Gardai are incompetent in many ways but they couldn't just stand by and let that happen. Their presence would be enought o stop that kind of thing (or so I'd hope, maybe I'm just a deluded, naive eejit!)

Redhairedguy

Gardai are just as willing to stay out of a fight as bystanders are. The only difference is that it is their job to stop this kind of stuff... For christ sakes they are the public defense force, and mostly they just sit around.. or walk aimlessly in a circle.

On countless times, I've seen commotions where Garda presence was necessary, but still they rather just hassle people drinking at the square or break up a congregation of baked crusties because it's easier. Personally I'm disgusted by their lack of responsibility!

herbieflowers

But why should they be afraid? (sounds pathetic!) They have a position of power. I suppose the problem is that no-one has any respect for them. The Gardai are aware of this too so they're almost futile men in uniforms.

Arm them! Let them shoot the vagrants!

Redhairedguy

herbieflowers wrote:

Arm them! Let them shoot the vagrants!

Rash!

But not too far from a solution! As it stands... Police don't even carry batons or any kind of weapon...

Most knacks and scumbags carry knives, Hurleys, bicycle chains... etc!