Armed gardaí to police streets over December

humanji

Don't know if anyone has mentioned this before, but I saw this article on the net.

and there's another article here.

For the first time, officers wearing body armour and carrying submachine guns will be on duty in parts of Dublin, but the Garda Representative Association said many members of the force feel unprotected.

They feel unprotected? How the f**k do they think we feel!!! Is this going to sort out the crime problem, or just escalate it?

Mossy Monk

our survey says

ESCALATE

Terry

bit late. we're half way through December already.

but, yes. the westies and their ilk wsill now arm themselves to the teeth and then the gardai will respond in kind and blah blah blah.

Heisenberg.

This post has been deleted.

User45701

Still tho it is unfair to ask someone to defend themselves, people and public property against someone who is armed when they are not.

Anyway i have little interest in what the gardai do they have failed me too many times for me to even care just as long as they leave me along im happy i don't relay like dealing with a failure of a orgiasation

Pazaz 21

"You don't bring a knife to a gun fight"

Or in the case of the Garda, "you don't bring anything to a gun fight"

Its a good thing that the average garda is not armed because if you don't have a gun, you won't go for it. If you watch cops or any of those police chase programs (all set in america i might add) the first thing the cops do is reach for their gun and start blasting at the first sign of anything happening.

In special cases armed garda are needed but only in special cases.

the_syco

Only gived guns to those who want guns, for one that doesn't want the gun won't use it, and may regret not using it.

Backtoblack

As long as they are properly trained etc, then I think its a good idea.
I don't think they should not use guns into the future just because they initially began as an unarmed force (and with that value)..
Its a jungle out there... and even f**king tarzan needs a gun these days so the guards have my blessing...... some of them can have my telephone number too.. there are some sexy guards out there in those uniforms (i've only begun to notice recently but it's becoming something of an obsession... )

Terry

it's not a jungle out there. it's relatively harmless. nobody needs a gun. not one single person needs to be armed. ok, there is the exception of a select few gadai who do actually need to be armed in order to defend themselves agains the lunatic farmer holed up in his cottage. apart from that, there is absolutely no need for anyone to be armed in any way whatsoever.

SimpleSam06

I don't think we're getting the whole story here, tbh. Its not (just) popgun pistols being talked about, its submachine guns. Thats some heavy artillery for an urban area, more suited to house to house streetfighting than for law enforcement duties. I'd be very interested to know what parts of Dublin exactly are getting this treatment, and what ongoing situations prompted the decision. I mean, I haven't heard of any guards being shot or shot at in a good long time.

monkeyfudge

Most of the crime increase over December is just drunk and disorderly behavior surely? Hardly requires lethal response does it?

"Take the traffic cone off your head now, Motherf*cker!"

Backtoblack

julep wrote:

it's not a jungle out there. it's relatively harmless. nobody needs a gun. not one single person needs to be armed. ok, there is the exception of a select few gadai who do actually need to be armed in order to defend themselves agains the lunatic farmer holed up in his cottage. apart from that, there is absolutely no need for anyone to be armed in any way whatsoever.

Where do you live? I don't feel safe walking around in Dublin alone at night. Haven't you heard about the serial killer over the weekend in England or the murder in the IFSC etc etc? Over halloween, I passed a burnt out car near the IFSC at 7am... still burning out. Relatively harmless might be a bit tame to describe a lot of what's being broadcasted on the 9am news every night... ~Thats my opinion anyway. Maybe you think it could be a lot worse.. like in parts of Africa maybe is it??

Pazaz 21

monkeyfudge wrote:

"Take the traffic cone off your head now, Motherf*cker!"

ROFL !!:D

Terry

I live in Leixlip. Not the friendliest of places on a Saturday night, but I still confidently stride through the main street with my bag of chips and battered sausage from sammy's.
I was in Dublin a couple of weeks back (or was it last week? i can't really remember) and had no problem walking past a bunch of rowdy drunks outside a nightclub on the quays. i also had no problem getting onto the nightlink on my own.
I'm not going to let my life be ruined on the off chance some scumbag might pick a fight with me. screw them. there are scumbags everywhere and you will never escape them. that doesn't mean the streets are not relatively safe and you certainly do not need a gun to protect yourself.
as for the serial kiler. i'm not really worried about him. he's in another country killing hookers. i'm not a hooker, so that type of thing really doesn't scare me.

Backtoblack

julep wrote:

I live in Leixlip. Not the friendliest of places on a Saturday night, but I still confidently stride through the main street with my bag of chips and battered sausage from sammy's.
I was in Dublin a couple of weeks back (or was it last week? i can't really remember) and had no problem walking past a bunch of rowdy drunks outside a nightclub on the quays. i also had no problem getting onto the nightlink on my own.
I'm not going to let my life be ruined on the off chance some scumbag might pick a fight with me. screw them. there are scumbags everywhere and you will never escape them. that doesn't mean the streets are not relatively safe and you certainly do not need a gun to protect yourself.
as for the serial kiler. i'm not really worried about him. he's in another country killing hookers. i'm not a hooker, so that type of thing really doesn't scare me.

I'm from Cork, now living in Dublin.
I will walk past a crowd of scumbags too and I'm very able to carry myself etc but I still don't feel safe passing them. They're not rational human beings are they? Especially when they're fuelled with drink and drugs.

Yes those poor girls were hookers and were in another country.
Rape and murder happens in Ireland too though.

Anyway, gotta go. Hardly any of my xmas shopping done. Town will be mentalistic too! :rolleyes:

Terry

holy crap. sh said "town" in reference to Dublin and she's from cork. wonders will never cease.
prepare to have your Cork citizenship revoked by angry boards members from Cork.

CLADA

I don't think the idea of having armed officers on the streets is to deal with drunks etc.. I'm fairly sure the reasoning behind it is to provide uniformed gardai with an effective armed response in the event that patrols come in contact with some of the individuals responsible for the recent gangland murders in the capital.

gandalf

"Garda O'Shea we are sending you on patrol in Darndale, pick your weapon of choice"

"A Phased-plasma rifle in the forty watt range please"

btw julep all posters from Cork are angry members (must be something in the water).

Lump

Give them all shotguns, the reason police in america go for their guns at the least sign of anything is because they don't want to get shot. I think with the recent spate of gun crime in Ireland it is a good idea for some police to be armed and on patrol!

John

Dave!

julep wrote:

I live in Leixlip. Not the friendliest of places on a Saturday night, but I still confidently stride through the main street with my bag of chips and battered sausage from sammy's.
I was in Dublin a couple of weeks back (or was it last week? i can't really remember) and had no problem walking past a bunch of rowdy drunks outside a nightclub on the quays. i also had no problem getting onto the nightlink on my own.
I'm not going to let my life be ruined on the off chance some scumbag might pick a fight with me. screw them. there are scumbags everywhere and you will never escape them. that doesn't mean the streets are not relatively safe and you certainly do not need a gun to protect yourself.
as for the serial kiler. i'm not really worried about him. he's in another country killing hookers. i'm not a hooker, so that type of thing really doesn't scare me.

Jeez you're a great lad! :eek:

It was only a matter of time before our police would grab some arms. It's only a matter of time now before a pistol is part of the uniform for the rank-and-file. We've had it pretty sweet for so long, in that we haven't had a gun problem, organised crime wasn't an issue, and the Gardaí could just stroll around telling groups of teenagers to move on. But we're living in a rapidly changing country, crime is on the increase, and gangs are killing each other in the middle of the street. Like so many other developed countries, the police are going to get guns. It's inevitable -- although maybe not desirable.

Bob the Builder

Pazaz 21 wrote:

"You don't bring a knife to a gun fight"

Or in the case of the Garda, "you don't bring anything to a gun fight"

Its a good thing that the average garda is not armed because if you don't have a gun, you won't go for it. If you watch cops or any of those police chase programs (all set in america i might add) the first thing the cops do is reach for their gun and start blasting at the first sign of anything happening.

In special cases armed garda are needed but only in special cases.

My Thought exactly...they shouldn't have to take out their gun when there just running after people....fight fire with fire, but not fire with anything else...

markk06

CLADA wrote:

I don't think the idea of having armed officers on the streets is to deal with drunks etc.. I'm fairly sure the reasoning behind it is to provide uniformed gardai with an effective armed response in the event that patrols come in contact with some of the individuals responsible for the recent gangland murders in the capital.

Totally agree with you...

They arent going to be doing patrols of temple bar, looking for people pissing in doorways
These guys are highly trained, its not going to be your average operation freeflow Garda. The simple fact of the matter is you cant stop a coked up hit man wielding a machine gun with a baton and a stern voice.

And by the way, armed gardai isnt a new thing, you'll find all detectives have been armed for years and they dont go around shooting drunks

_Kaiser_

I'd be against the average cop being armed for the simple reason that too many of them are corrupt, incompetent or think the badge gives them the right to harass and intimidate the general public. I can just imagine individuals like this being given guns and thinking they're Dirty Harry or something.

A full reform of the Gardai, including the establishment of effective, independent oversight is required, before this should even be considered.

Dave!

Yeah I can imagine alot of Gardaí sticking a gun in some cheeky bloke's face for the laugh.

Terry

markk06 wrote:

And by the way, armed gardai isnt a new thing, you'll find all detectives have been armed for years and they dont go around shooting drunks

True. I used to regularly see gardai parked outside the dole office 13 years ago. they had sub machine guns on the laps. the dole office in question was regularly held up by the 'ra back then.

me and the biz

Kaiser2000 wrote:

I'd be against the average cop being armed for the simple reason that too many of them are corrupt, incompetent or think the badge gives them the right to harass and intimidate the general public. I can just imagine individuals like this being given guns and thinking they're Dirty Harry or something.

A full reform of the Gardai, including the establishment of effective, independent oversight is required, before this should even be considered.

Come on, you don't honestly think that. Do you?

Terry

me and the biz wrote:

Come on, you don't honestly think that. Do you?

some people do.
certain people just need to lay off the weed and their paranoia about the gardai will gradually fade and they will see that they are not actually that bad.
i had my run in's with them when i was a foolish teenager, but my attitude to them has changed completely over the years. they have been extremely helpful to me on more than one occasion.

_Kaiser_

me and the biz wrote:

Come on, you don't honestly think that. Do you?

Yes and have posted extensively on why previously

senordingdong

Pazaz 21 wrote:

If you watch cops or any of those police chase programs (all set in america i might add) the first thing the cops do is reach for their gun and start blasting at the first sign of anything happening.

That may be...but you'll often find that on these shows, 90% of the criminals encountered are armed too.
The Gardaí have rarely needed guns up untill now because criminals have rarely been armed up untill now.

senordingdong

Kaiser2000 wrote:

Yes and have posted extensively on why previously

I also disagree with you to an extent. Don't get me wrong, there is merit to your arguement but I believe the vast majority of Gardaí are not like that.
I also believe the vast majority of Gardaí would object to carrying arms.

Mutz

Kaiser2000 wrote:

Yes and have posted extensively on why previously

Kaiser - unfortunately for your, Coolock has gone crazy with SERIOUS crime. most officers are extremely overloaded with work and get very little time to do paper work and call backs and often it is the case that smaller things as you have mentioned (I know these are huge issues to you btw) are often forgotten or overlooked when more serious calls come in.

I agree that a complete overhaul of the system is needed with regard to stations being replaced by precincts (high rise office buildings with proper modern technology and physical infrastructure), resources, technology, cars, specialised units in each precinct like eru, rape, assault etc. uniform and body armour.

I would disagree however that uniform Gardai be armed. There is usually very little need for armed Gardai, but if i could express the urgent need for body armour to be issued in situations where uniformed gardai are usually the first at the scene of armed calls. it is only the plain clothes who are issued at present with the exception of a few stations testing stab vests on a pilot basis. If the government want crime fought properly, give the Guards what they want and to stop listening to these civil rights idiots who really get in the way of their work.

the_syco

julep wrote:

it's not a jungle out there. it's relatively harmless. nobody needs a gun. not one single person needs to be armed. ok, there is the exception of a select few gadai who do actually need to be armed in order to defend themselves agains the lunatic farmer holed up in his cottage. apart from that, there is absolutely no need for anyone to be armed in any way whatsoever.

Dublin is a place where, in broad daylight, on an open road, people get gunned down, drive by shotings happen, and you think we should just cover our f*cking heads in the sand? What'll deter you from acting a muppet more? A Garda coming towards you with a concealed pistol, or one with a SMG?

faceman

the_syco wrote:

Dublin is a place where, in broad daylight, on an open road, people get gunned down, drive by shotings happen, and you think we should just cover our f*cking heads in the sand? What'll deter you from acting a muppet more? A Garda coming towards you with a concealed pistol, or one with a SMG?

even a step below that, people get mugged in streets in broad daylight in open view of other people. Rarely does Joe Public step in. Easy pickings for criminals.

I have no issue with limited supply of armed gardai on the streets. They wont be just handing out firearms to everyone like christmas crackers, im sure there will be some form of test both psychological and physical before they can carry one. (Well i hope anyway!!!)

There are cctv cameras all over city centre, im sure we wont get a repeat of the rodney king epsiode in temple bar!

markk06

the_syco wrote:

What'll deter you from acting a muppet more? A Garda coming towards you with a concealed pistol, or one with a SMG?

Reminds me of when i was in Mexico... We stayed in cancun so it was certainly not the ghetto, but the security guards that patrolled the shopping centre carried automatic weapons.. there was the definite "dont **** with me" vibe about them...

The only guy not afraid of them was the guy who guarded the jewellers, with an m-16... I assume there were very few shoplifters here...

So maybe people would think twice about robbing a shop, shooting someone or battering someone if they faced the prospect of a bullet in the head

Dave!

markk06 wrote:

So maybe people would think twice about robbing a shop, shooting someone or battering someone if they faced the prospect of a bullet in the head

Do you think so or do you think that they'd get a gun too?

What do you think a heroin addict is gonna do? "Oh I'd better get off the drugs now..."? "Maybe I'll get a 9-5 job instead"?

No, it'll just mean that they'll have to get a gun and shoot the Garda first.

Sure, there'd be less kids going joyriding, less assaults on the street, etc., for fear of being shot, but it would greatly increase the level of danger that the Gardaí face, and that's not what we want. As it stands Gardaí aren't frequently caught in the middle of gun-fights. It's innocent by-standers. Do we want to throw our police-force into the mix too?

I'd also say that a great (unarmed) Garda presence on the street would cut down alot of the joyriding, assaults, etc. It's bloody ridiculous how few ya see on the streets. The only time I see a Garda in my area is when they're in my local chipper.

5500

In West Dublin (blanch,clondalkin,tallaght ect) its been quite common for the past few months to see armed gardai on checkpoints ect weilding machine guns so its nothing new really but strange pulling up to one having your tax checked by one gaurd and some special forces looking guy looking in your other window

Backtoblack

julep wrote:

holy crap. sh said "town" in reference to Dublin and she's from cork. wonders will never cease.
prepare to have your Cork citizenship revoked by angry boards members from Cork.

ah for god's sake. Dublin is not that big
Cork is an entire republic of its own.

Are there Cork members? I miss home!!!!

markk06

"No, it'll just mean that they'll have to get a gun and shoot the Garda first."



Firstly its not the heroine addicts that are shooting people.

You say that the criminals will arm themselves better if the Gardai have guns?? The simple fact of the matter is that criminals are arming themselves better. Crime in this country is getting much more ruthless.. Take for example the innocent plumber who was killed. These people dont care who they kill so next its going to be a Garda. So do you not think its better to protect our police force, the people who have defended our state for years against some of the most advanced criminal elements in the world, or let them try stop this problem with no armed assistance. Get real

Catari Jaguar

I believe that the Gardai don't even have a shooting range to practice?

How very clever :rolleyes:

There are already 3000 armed Gardai from what I know so this isn't very new.

Backtoblack

markk06 wrote:

"No, it'll just mean that they'll have to get a gun and shoot the Garda first."



Firstly its not the heroine addicts that are shooting people.

You say that the criminals will arm themselves better if the Gardai have guns?? The simple fact of the matter is that criminals are arming themselves better. Crime in this country is getting much more ruthless.. Take for example the innocent plumber who was killed. These people dont care who they kill so next its going to be a Garda. So do you not think its better to protect our police force, the people who have defended our state for years against some of the most advanced criminal elements in the world, or let them try stop this problem with no armed assistance. Get real

The poor junkies would inivitably end up selling the gun for a "hit"!!! :rolleyes:
And most of the ****ers that sell it are too clever to ever touch the stuff.

I don't think Guardai having guns would aggrivate the situation to be honest, as someone else mentioned, its not that uncommon to see some "special forces" for example at checkpoints etc, with uber-serious guns at hand.

CLADA

Lil Kitten wrote:

I believe that the Gardai don't even have a shooting range to practice?

I think they lost their tactics town in Templemore, it was replaced with some new building, as far as I know they use military ranges for firearms training.

netwhizkid

In the wake of what is going on in Dublin which now even makes Limerick look like two toddlers fighting over a mars bar. There is drastic Measures need ASAP, Firstly I think Michael McDowell should resign from his position as under his tenure killing have reached the levels last seen when the Black & Tans were were committing genocide against the Irish people. Except this time it is Paddy V Paddy and the odd eastern European.

I believe that the Gardai should be armed and it is good to see that this is now happening. We need many many more Gardai and I think that on top of the situation there needs to be at least two more Gardai Training Colleges Built. One Public, one Private, yes netwhizkid the red is advocating Private Enterprise. I reckon that in the region of 10,000 gardai are needed and creating the Gardai Reserve Force was the biggest joke in History.

We need proper judiciary and reform of the legal system, the fact of the matter is that many of these criminals that are walking the streets and gunning down innocent people should have been jailed many years ago or were released early in our revolving doors prison system. We need to double our Prison Capacity and this is another situation where the Private Sector can help, this should not be about political ideology but getting things done asap for the greater good, and any right or left wing politician who argues otherwise is very short-sighted.

As I mentioned earlier many of these criminals should be behind bars long ago only for the jailings of our legal and judicial system. Judges are doing wreck and many seem more concerned about their pensions ala Brian Curtin than actually doing their job and doling out Prison Time. Many of these career criminals began there criminal lives as young children and because of the failings fo the system went onto where we are today. Massive sums of Money should be spent on a Juvenile Rehabilitation System and also make the parents more responsible with heavy fines and prison time if they do not control their delinquent Kids.

I know all of this sounds radical but a radical plan is needed to stop the blood letting, Drugs are the scourge of Society and are the cause of all this Gangland Criminality. Drug Users need help and should get it but equally they should not expect society give a toss and the system should make light prison sentences mandatory for repeat offences of possession, and give the Gardai the powers to the search any person and their property without a search warrant if they don;t have this already. Employers should also be able to do a background search on potential employess to see if they are drug users and make it non-discriminatory if they wish to hire or not.

I really could write loads on this issue but I won't, reading the Sunday World this morning made my blood run cold and thank my stars I am so far away from Dublin. It is my firm belief that The Gardai need more powers not to have there excisting powers taken away as has happened in the wake of the Donegal Incidents and the John Carty case in Abbylara Co. Longford.

Guards are stuck behind desks doing paper work which could be outsourced affectively freeing up Gardai time and manpower. Equally seeing trained Gardai taking the speed limit in 50KMph zones instead of fighting Crime is disgraceful, like how trained must you be to write a speeding ticket and issue a fine, a special Gardai Road Core should be set up with new recruits who would only be like Traffic cops and this would save time in training while freeing up real guards to fight Gangland Criminality.

What are your views on this?

Boston

Backtoblack wrote:

or the murder in the IFSC etc etc?

What murder?

Backtoblack

I agree about McDowell. I don't know how many times this year he has been on tv looking frightfully embarrassed in relation to one scandal or another.

I think it makes more sense too to employ admin staff to do admin work.
A lot of us have to take Confidentiality Agreements at work at any rate, if that is the issue.

gurramok

Armed gardai is not a new thing where i'm from.

As said before, they were out in west dublin during operation Anvil, they even had a checkpoint with guys armed with UZI's standing around a squad car at end of my road, but its over year since that happened as Anvil was axed.

Heard on news that the garda drugs squad has not increased by a single member in 10 years!!

Dave!

markk06 wrote:

Firstly its not the heroine addicts that are shooting people.

Nice reading there :rolleyes: Jesus you even f*cking quoted me but you managed to get it wrong.

I didn't say that addicts are shooting people -- I said they WILL. They're not gonna stop commiting crimes, are they? Do you think they are? No, they'll need to get their money from somewhere. So if they face getting shot for robbing a shop, then they're gonna have to invest in a gun of their own so that (a) they have protection from the police, and (b) they can continue on their merry way funding their addiction.

markk06 wrote:

You say that the criminals will arm themselves better if the Gardai have guns?? The simple fact of the matter is that criminals are arming themselves better.

I didn't say that the gangland criminals are going to arm themselves better. I'm well aware that they're armed already with machine guns, and body armour in some cases.

But by arming the rank-and-file, you're going to force other criminals to arm themselves (eg. drug addicts), while the gangland criminals will continue to have guns. It will only endanger more lives, while it will probably lower the amount of joyriders we have. Who gives a sh*t about joyriders when the bloke who's mugging you could have a handgun rather than a syringe?

markk06 wrote:

Crime in this country is getting much more ruthless.. Take for example the innocent plumber who was killed. These people dont care who they kill so next its going to be a Garda.

The gangland criminals don't care who they kill, correct. They're going out with the intention of shooting someone.
But a drug addict or a career burgular generally wants to get some money and then shoot up or whatever. They don't go out to kill people. By putting a gun in their hand, you're going to increase the chance of them getting a fright and shooting whoever's in the house, or if a Garda sees them they're going to try be quicker on the draw, and then more people get killed.

markk06 wrote:

So do you not think its better to protect our police force, the people who have defended our state for years against some of the most advanced criminal elements in the world, or let them try stop this problem with no armed assistance.

If I thought giving the Gardaí guns would protect them then I'd be for it. But I'd be more inclined to think that giving them guns would (a) make firearms more prevalent and acceptable in society, (b) make society more dangerous, and (c) put guns in the hands of those who don't necessarily want one.

More guns aren't the solution IMO. I'm not the Minister for Justice so it's not my job to suggest an alternative.

markk06 wrote:

Get real

Ahh we've got a genius here...:rolleyes:

Backtoblack

LiouVille wrote:

What murder?

www.rte.ie/news
www.skynews.com
www.rueters.co.uk

or

www.google.ie

monument

Backtoblack wrote:

Where do you live? I don't feel safe walking around in Dublin alone at night. Haven't you heard about the serial killer over the weekend in England or the murder in the IFSC etc etc? Over halloween, I passed a burnt out car near the IFSC at 7am... still burning out. Relatively harmless might be a bit tame to describe a lot of what's being broadcasted on the 9am news every night... ~Thats my opinion anyway. Maybe you think it could be a lot worse.. like in parts of Africa maybe is it??

Maybe it isn’t safe around Dublin at night. But your examples are both of **targeted** groups which I’ll presume you don’t belong in.

The example relating to England is a serial killer who is only targeting prostitutes. As I’ve said on the other thread, the killing at the IFSC was a hit on a known gangland figure.

Was anybody harmed in connection with the burnt-out car?

Really, you’re getting carried away with the media’s hype, while you would be far better off taking calm steps to improve your own personal safety then worrying about gangland crime and other isolated events.

I’m not trying to talk down to you here but much of it is common sense, but often ignored. Stuff like…

• Know where you’re going in advance
• Be aware of your surroundings
• This goes double for using ATMs, look around it first and while in the line etc
• Look confident and stay calm, but don’t be arrogant – looking around is better then being in bull-headed tunnel vision
• Keep to busy and lighted streets and don’t take shortcuts down dark streets
• Don’t stare up at stupid Luas displays saying ‘beware of pick pocks’ because that’s just the kind if distraction that helps them
• For the bus/luas/dart having the correct change or a weekly/monthly tickets means you’re messing around less and you’re not distracted by looking for change
• Don’t unnecessarily have your phone/mp3 player/camera/etc on show
• Keep valuables out of loose coat pockets
• Replace trademark white Ipod earphones
• Think if you would be safer without earphones or just put one in one ear so you can still hear around you
• If you’re going to walk don’t wear shoes you can’t walk well in, bring a change if you have to
• Try to have at least one hand/arm free at all times
• When a person approaches you be aware of them and keep eye contact, keep a hand free, don’t look away if asked about a timetable or for directions, just tell them how to find it them selves
• After dark, keep away from obstructions that someone could hide behind, always be aware of your surroundings.
• Always stay near the curb.
• If someone in a vehicle stops and asks for directions, answer from a distance. Do not approach the vehicle.
• If followed, go immediately to an area with lights and people. If needed, turn around and walk in the opposite direction, your follower will also have to reverse direction.
• Do not display cash openly, especially when leaving an ATM machine

Silly me decide to google after I had most of the above written out, here’s some links…

http://www.co.whatcom.wa.us/sheriff/crimeprev/personal.jsp
http://www.ou.edu/oupd/holtips.htm
http://www.crimereduction.gov.uk/personalsafety.htm

Backtoblack

monument wrote:

Maybe it isn’t safe around Dublin at night. But your examples are both of **targeted** groups which I’ll presume you don’t belong in.

The example relating to England is a serial killer who is only targeting prostitutes. As I’ve said on the other thread, the person killing at the IFSC was a hit on a known gangland figure.

Was anybody harmed in connection with the burnt-out car?

Really, you’re getting carried away with the media’s hype, while you would be far better off taking calm steps to improve your own personal safety then worrying about gangland crime and other isolated events.

I’m not trying to talk down to you here but much of it is common sense, but often ignored. Stuff like…

• Know where you’re going in advance
• Be aware of your surroundings
• This goes double for using ATMs, look around it first and while in the line etc
• Look confident and stay calm, but don’t be arrogant – looking around is better then being in bull-headed tunnel vision
• Keep to busy and lighted streets and don’t take shortcuts down dark streets
• Don’t stare up at stupid Luas displays saying ‘beware of pick pocks’ because that’s just the kind if distraction that helps them
• For the bus/luas/dart having the correct change or a weekly/monthly tickets means you’re messing around less and you’re not distracted by looking for change
• Don’t unnecessarily have your phone/mp3 player/camera/etc on show
• Keep valuables out of loose coat pockets
• Replace trademark white Ipod earphones
• Think if you would be safer without earphones or just put one in one ear so you can still hear around you
• If you’re going to walk don’t wear shoes you can’t walk well in, bring a change if you have to
• Try to have at least one hand/arm free at all times
• When a person approaches you be aware of them and keep eye contact, keep a hand free, don’t look away if asked about a timetable or for directions, just tell them how to find it them selves
• After dark, keep away from obstructions that someone could hide behind, always be aware of your surroundings.
• Always stay near the curb.
• If someone in a vehicle stops and asks for directions, answer from a distance. Do not approach the vehicle.
• If followed, go immediately to an area with lights and people. If needed, turn around and walk in the opposite direction, your follower will also have to reverse direction.
• Do not display cash openly, especially when leaving an ATM machine

Silly me, decide to google after I had most of the above written out, here’s some links…

http://www.co.whatcom.wa.us/sheriff/crimeprev/personal.jsp
http://www.ou.edu/oupd/holtips.htm
http://www.crimereduction.gov.uk/personalsafety.htm

Ah thanks!

I know all that really though, not being at all ungrateful..
Rape/muggings happen though too etc. You can't say really that it's only hookers and druggies (&company) getting injured and so on.
And no thankfully i fall into neither of the two categories!

Time Magazine

julep wrote:

I live in Leixlip. Not the friendliest of places on a Saturday night, but I still confidently stride through the main street with my bag of chips and battered sausage from sammy's.

julep: soon to be mod of Long-Term Illness.

Battered sausages from Sammy's...

monument

Backtoblack wrote:

Ah thanks!

I know all that really though, not being at all ungrateful..
Rape/muggings happen though too etc. You can't say really that it's only hookers and druggies (&company) getting injured and so on.
And no thankfully i fall into neither of the two categories!

“Rape/muggings happen though too etc” - I know they do - that's what the above advice is aimed to avoid.

For those of you in gangs out there, I’d recommend a bullet proof vest, an MP5, and a maybe think about a change of profession.