The Gardai - Accomplishments to date

MagicSean

bill buchanan wrote: »

As an adult tehy've been rude to me, too. But in a less aggressive way.

But it's madness, IMHO, to suggest it's OK for gardai to be rude to teenagers.

I can think of one occasion where there were a group of us sitting at a wall. A guy legged it past us and ran down street A. 1 min later the gardai ran around the corner asking where he went. My mate pointed them down street B because they treated him like crap when they searched him.

I'm still close to those friends, and all our opinion of the gardai would be low enough. A lot of that probably has to do with our formative years.

So you were actually hanging out with criminals/scumbags?

laoch na mona

bill buchanan wrote: »

it's OK for gardai to be rude to teenagers.

yes yes it is:D

bill buchanan

MagicSean wrote: »

So you were actually hanging out with criminals/scumbags?

Absolutely not. Why would you say that??

MagicSean

bill buchanan wrote: »

Absolutely not. Why would you say that??

Because you said your friend helped someone get away from the Gardaí because some Garda had been rude to him when he was being searched. Did ye even know why he was being chased?

bill buchanan

MagicSean wrote: »

Because you said your friend helped someone get away from the Gardaí because some Garda had been rude to him when he was being searched. Did ye even know why he was being chased?

Doesn't make him a scumbag. It makes him an angry young man. No idea why he was being chased.

You can't just expect grown ups to be nasty to kids and then for the kids to take the moral high ground. These things should work the other way around.

MagicSean

bill buchanan wrote: »

Doesn't make him a scumbag. It makes him an angry young man. No idea why he was being chased.

You can't just expect grown ups to be nasty to kids and then for the kids to take the moral high ground. These things should work the other way around.

To me it makes him a scumbag or just an idiot. Was it even the same Garda who had been rude to him? I doubt it. Would you still be supporting your friend if that fella he helped turned out to have hurt someone or went on to hurt someont?

Is he a kid or an angry young man? I suspect he was more than a kid. Someone who was old enough to have had a bit more sense.

bill buchanan

MagicSean wrote: »

To me it makes him a scumbag or just an idiot. Was it even the same Garda who had been rude to him? I doubt it. Would you still be supporting your friend if that fella he helped turned out to have hurt someone or went on to hurt someont?

Is he a kid or an angry young man? I suspect he was more than a kid. Someone who was old enough to have had a bit more sense.

We were doing the junior cert, so whatever age that made us.

I'm happy to take your simplistic view of adolescent psychology and run with that, though. Although I disagree strongly with it.

Can we, therefore, say that the garda who was rude to him was also a scumbag?

Daveysil15

Well they've done a lot to combat human trafficking after raiding several brothels over the last few years. That and the checkpoints.

MagicSean

bill buchanan wrote: »

We were doing the junior cert, so whatever age that made us.

I'm happy to take your simplistic view of adolescent psychology and run with that, though. Although I disagree strongly with it.

Can we, therefore, say that the garda who was rude to him was also a scumbag?

By all means go ahead if you want. I'm sure he never gave you or your friends a second thought. Whereas your friend decided to take his anger out by aiding a criminal. You can blame it on him being an adolescent all you want but there are plenty of us who went through our adolescence without being morons.

bill buchanan

MagicSean wrote: »

By all means go ahead if you want. I'm sure he never gave you or your friends a second thought. Whereas your friend decided to take his anger out by aiding a criminal. You can blame it on him being an adolescent all you want but there are plenty of us who went through our adolescence without being morons.

OK so we're going to end this here by just saying that one of my closest friends is a scumbag and some random garda is a scumbag. I think that's a silly endpoint, but if that's what you want, then fine. He's now a very accomplished emergency department nurse. He helps people every day. I woudn't say he's a scumbag by any means, but I'll pass on your message :P

As for the old "well I was a kid once and I never did drugs/commited crime/made mistakes etc" that's a very old right wing argument to convince society that poor areas were just full of knackers. The reasons people, especially adolescents, make choices, is complex. They get more angry. They don't have huge life experience, they're naturally abit angry with the world. Just in the same way that people who end up taking drugs aren't just the stupid people.

Maybe you had great wisdom when you were 14. But in the real world most people would expect a qualified garda to have a LOT more cop on than a 14 year old boy.

It's a shame that supporters of the gardai can't seem to grasp that community policing is much more subtle than "that guy did something wrong, so he must be a scumbag or stupid".

RustyNut

MagicSean wrote: »

By all means go ahead if you want. I'm sure he never gave you or your friends a second thought. Whereas your friend decided to take his anger out by aiding a criminal. You can blame it on him being an adolescent all you want but there are plenty of us who went through our adolescence without being morons.

Do you not accept that when Guards throw their weight around and bully young people for no good reason then they are going to loose all good will from these people for ever ?

3ndahalfof6

like many professions, there are the hard working and dedicated, and then there are the pure toss pots.

MagicSean

RustyNut wrote: »

Do you not accept that when Guards throw their weight around and bully young people for no good reason then they are going to loose all good will from these people for ever ?

No doubt. I just don't see it as an excuse to commit a crime or help someone to.

bill buchanan

MagicSean wrote: »

No doubt. I just don't see it as an excuse to commit a crime or help someone to.

Are you suggesting that the gardai should just expect 14 year olds to act like they want them to? Or would it be just that bit easier to be nice to them and try to earn the community's respect?

I don't even know why this is a question, to be honest!

MagicSean

bill buchanan wrote: »

Are you suggesting that the gardai should just expect 14 year olds to act like they want them to? Or would it be just that bit easier to be nice to them and try to earn the community's respect?

I don't even know why this is a question, to be honest!

I'm saying that a Garda being rude to you is not an excuse for you to commit a crime or help someone to commit a crime.

george tobin

CreepingDeath wrote: »

[QUOTE=Musiconomist;80632752[*]They havent arrested most of the bankers/politicians who have acted improperly or corruptly

They arrested Sean Quinn and his family on fraud charges.

Musiconomist wrote: »

[*]They dont overly mind baton-charging protesters

As far as I know, they aren't equipped with pepper spray.

Musiconomist wrote: »

[*]They took a long time to respond to a call when our house was broken in, and then didnt take prints. (The "There's very little chance of catching him." attitude)

Burglars use gloves.
Plus they'd have to fingerprint everyone in your house and previous visitors to rule their fingerprints out.
Too much work/cost.

Musiconomist wrote: »

[*]A girl was attacked recently at my local train station (the 3rd in 4 years), yet they havent notified the community or made requests for information. This one really annoyed me, as I thought it would be common sense to do that, and could be preventative.

It's not their job to notify the community.
Typically local newspapers do that.
And if someone had information they should come forward, not expect a personal request for it.

Musiconomist wrote: »

[*]That guard who got a slap on the wrist for making the rape joke. I hate that "closed ranks" mentality

You think they should be fired for bad humour?

Musiconomist wrote: »

[*]The whole Catholic church thing

What are you talking about, 20 years ago or today?
If a claim of abuse is reported of course they're going to investigate it today.


I don't think you understand their role at all.
They're just detain criminals, make a report and see if their station sergeant agrees they've enough proof to send it to the director of public prosecutions.
It's up to the DPP to decide to proceed with a criminal case or not, and the Judges to sentence the guilty within the limits of the law for that particular crime.[/Quote]
The prints are matched against prints of known offenders they are also supplied with spray amongst other self defence devices

bill buchanan

MagicSean wrote: »

I'm saying that a Garda being rude to you is not an excuse for you to commit a crime or help someone to commit a crime.

of course it's not an excuse. But who cares? What has that got to do with policing? It's an inevitability, and that's wht the gardai need to bear in mind.

The rights and wrongs of a kid's actions are not that relevant here.

BunShopVoyeur

People never stop whinging in this bloody country.

samk1

CreepingDeath wrote: »

I completely disagree.

not getting into a d*ck measuring contest here but the experience Ive had have been bad and attitudes have been worse.

woke up to find a car on blocks alloys stolen , garda turn up at 9am they were rang at 7am and said "what do you want us to do about it"

motorbike stolen from outside my ex's house 3 years ago i gave a statement still havent heard anything back (altough the bike was found)

watch stolen from my jacket pocket where i foolishly put it and left it into the cloakroom of the local niteclub around 3 years ago aswell. still waiting to hear back,and sadly I can go on.

Everyones opinions and experiences are going to be differnt and i can accept that but mine all seem to be negative.

Ulysses Gaze

Another Guard bashing thread on AH.

Time for....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbh6My_bhnU

kowloon

cursai wrote: »

When I was young I had a sick budgie. Its head was falling off. I went to the vet to get it fixed. The vet couldn't fix its loose head. I couldn't understand why not.
All vets are budgie killers.

That's a manufacturing defect, normally the head shouldn't budge.

I'll leave peacefully...

paddyandy

Take all the Guards off the streets for a week and you'd very soon learn their worth . We'd be watching like little animals do when they leave to forage .Some parts of the world are like that .

Dionysius2

él statutorio wrote: »

You don't get respect, you earn it.

There are very few Gardaí who I'd respect and the ones that I do are all approaching retirement. IMHO a lot of the younger Gardaí don't give a toss.

Maybe the older type Guards were better ? Yes/No ? I don't mean the Lugs Branigan type but the guards of the older generation.

teddansonswig

kevmy85 wrote: »

And the Garda who was the main culprit there was brought to court.

and never charged
and he was not the main culprit, they were all at it, he just got photographed

Cee-Jay-Cee

My argument went something like this:

• They havent arrested most of the bankers/politicians who have acted improperly or corruptly
  
  A complaint has to be made officially before they can investigate/act. They can't just start investigating random bankers.
  
  
• They dont overly mind baton-charging protesters
  
  Yeah that's right, they simply baton charged protestors for absolutely no reason, they weren't attacked or provoked, they just decided "look at those peaceful bunch of protestors, let's beat them with our batons"
  
• They took a long time to respond to a call when our house was broken in, and then didnt take prints. (The "There's very little chance of catching him." attitude)
  
  Was the burglar still in the house when you called them? No, so what's the rush, they probably had far more pressing matters to attend to and you watch to much CSI. Prints aren't always taken, especially if you can't be sure what the culprit might actually have touched or would you rather they covered absolutely everything you have in the house with black dust in the search for fingerprints and then take eliminatipn orints from evetyone who has ever been in your house to rule them out? And the majority of burglars wear gloves but you'd know all that as you watch CSi.
  
• A girl was attacked recently at my local train station (the 3rd in 4 years), yet they havent notified the community or made requests for information. This one really annoyed me, as I thought it would be common sense to do that, and could be preventative.
  
  The arent in the habit of scaring the bejesus out of people by announcing that kind of information. You heard about it so chances are most other people who use the station did too. Did Iarnrod Eireann make any announcements regarding passenger safety and security at their stations? Maybe you have another equally weak thread somewhere else about IE?
  
  
• That guard who got a slap on the wrist for making the rape joke. I hate that "closed ranks" mentality
  
  It was a joke made in private. Have you never slagged someone off, wished someone harm or otherwise? If not then you may cast the first stone.
  
  
• The whole Catholic church thing.
  
  Politicians governed what the guards could and could not do.
  
  

I also suggested that if they were not satisfied with the judicial system, it would make sense (and be a bold statement) if the guards were to march for judicial reform.

Why should guards match for reform? Guards are bound by a code and cannot take sides in any political issue or show favour in that regard. If your that keen on reform why don't you organize a march. why not get solicitors and barristers, and sure you may add judges to that list too, get them all out marching for legal reform.



You haven't put forward one single valid point. You have absolutely no idea the way the law, constitution or political system in this country works.

Carlos Orange

Musiconomist wrote: »

My point is that they dont even do that part. Get the criminals into the courtrooms. At that point, their job is done. If the judge makes a bad decision, at least it's not the guards fault.

Did you read what he said? Guards don't decide what goes to court the dpp does.

Wompa1

Musiconomist wrote: »

This might seem pathetic or funny to you, but it's quite serious to me.

The girl who was attacked was 14/15, so I've been told, near my train station at about 10-11pm, at the bottom of my girlfriends road. I know where because I walked past the police tape the next morning.

That is why it angers me to think that the guards could be doing more. It is ordinary people who pay the price, in the end.

Last summer my then girlfriend was punched in the face when walking around Galway city in the middle of the day. 6 other women were also punched within a couple hours beforehand. The Gardai were alerted about all of those. They didn't release any warning. I contacted the local media to ask why they hadn't put out a warning to others and was told the Gardai have not confirmed or issued any statement. It never made the news. 6 women assaulted in a town the size of my nutsuck within a couple of hours of each other by 1 man.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Wompa1 wrote: »

Musiconomist wrote: »

This might seem pathetic or funny to you, but it's quite serious to me.

The girl who was attacked was 14/15, so I've been told, near my train station at about 10-11pm, at the bottom of my girlfriends road. I know where because I walked past the police tape the next morning.

That is why it angers me to think that the guards could be doing more. It is ordinary people who pay the price, in the end.

Last summer my then girlfriend was punched in the face when walking around Galway city in the middle of the day. 6 other women were also punched within a couple hours beforehand. The Gardai were alerted about all of those. They didn't release any warning. I contacted the local media to ask why they hadn't put out a warning to others and was told the Gardai have not confirmed or issued any statement. It never made the news. 6 women assaulted in a town the size of my nutsuck within a couple of hours of each other by 1 man.

1.. It's not the guards job to put stuff on the news.

2.. They dont issue warnings for fear of causing unnecessary panic. Say for example they did issue some form of warning on the radio or tv, what use would it do? The people they'd want to hear it are on the street not at home watching tv. It also can lead to vigil anti-ism. Then you'd have people blaming the guards for causing panic or someone getting beaten after accidentally being accused of being a serial woman puncher.

RaRaRasputin

I haven't had any bad experiences with the guards here yet at all. In fact I only had to deal with them twice, and they were actually really helpful and supportive and like the police in some other countries...

stateofflux

RaRaRasputin wrote: »

I haven't had any bad experiences with the guards here yet at all. In fact I only had to deal with them twice, and they were actually really helpful and supportive and like the police in some other countries...

what countries?

mikemac1

Like many companies management seem to be obsessed with stats and desperate for promotion

Alan Shatter's house was burgled in March, immediate response, technical staff sent there, a garda left to watch it and detectives picking up people the same day

Sure the Mininster needs security and a top response as it's a security threat

I got burgled the same weekend, intruder found in the house, still waiting for a letter or phonecall or anything. Followed up twice, nobody will reply to me.
Have a cigarette lighter with prints, offered to bring it to the station but told wait for your garda, where is my garda as he doesn't return phone calls.


Some senior garda probably got a promotion for their work on Shatters house

Go to Limerick and break a window in Castletroy and then break a window on Michael Noonan's house and I'm certain there will be a different reaction from the local management

suicide_circus

The best thing the gardai do is refrain from shooting loads of people like in the states.
All in all i don't find them a very effective force but in that, they reflect the wider society.

weldoninhio

Dean0088 wrote: »

kevmy85 wrote: »

When was the last time the Gardaí baton charged protesters? The May Day things about 8 yrs ago IIRC. And the Garda who was the main culprit there was brought to court.

How many Gardaí were killed/seriously injured on duty since? At least two killed (possibly more) and many more stabbed/shot at/assualted.

And yet people remember/give out to Gardaí for baton charging people and forget how much they put themselves on the line for the ordinary people. Sure there are bad ones, sure there are excellent ones and most of them are probably average like most professions.

The last baton charge I recall (ha - compared to the London Met or any other riot squad, the gardaí are softies) was outside the department of Finance against students and Eirigi two years ago. They were occupying a government department and blocking the street in an unauthorized 'split' protest from the main student march.

The gardaí allowed it to continue for around 40 minutes. They then dragged people from the department. Made numerous announcements for the crowed to move. This was while unprotected gardái in normal uniform were being pelted with bottles and stones from Eirigi at the rear of the crowed.

The riot squad then battoned sitting protesters when they failed to move. Looked harsh but meh... over an hour is more than enough time to comply with reasonable orders from the gardaí as it was now a public order situation where gardaí were being assaulted.

People whinge over anything.

So they got pelted with bottles and bricks from the rear of the crowd, then went in and batoned the people having a sitdown protest?? Heroes!!!

JRant

MagicSean wrote: »

bill buchanan wrote: »

Doesn't make him a scumbag. It makes him an angry young man. No idea why he was being chased.

You can't just expect grown ups to be nasty to kids and then for the kids to take the moral high ground. These things should work the other way around.

To me it makes him a scumbag or just an idiot. Was it even the same Garda who had been rude to him? I doubt it. Would you still be supporting your friend if that fella he helped turned out to have hurt someone or went on to hurt someont?

Is he a kid or an angry young man? I suspect he was more than a kid. Someone who was old enough to have had a bit more sense.

Must be great to never be wrong or never make a mistake, Fair play to you.
I think your missing a vital part in what bill was trying to say. It didn't have to be the same garda, just the uniform is enough if they've been badly treated. I wouldn't suggest what was done was right but I can understand why it was done, big difference, and it doesn't make them a scumbag.

MagicSean

JRant wrote: »

Must be great to never be wrong or never make a mistake, Fair play to you.

I wouldn't class aiding a criminal as making a mistake to be honest. I made mistakes but managed to stay clear of helping someone evade capture. Maybe it's because I didn't grow up somewhere as rough as you. Mayube where you come from it takes courage to not be a criminal. Where i come from not being a criminal is not something to aspire to. It's the default position.

JRant wrote: »

I think your missing a vital part in what bill was trying to say. It didn't have to be the same garda, just the uniform is enough if they've been badly treated. I wouldn't suggest what was done was right but I can understand why it was done, big difference, and it doesn't make them a scumbag.

It does make them a scumbag. I get what you are saying about cause and effect and I agree. But I also know that the majority of those mean Garda stories are bull****, either exaggerated ot completely fabricated. I saw it in action just last night. 82 year old woman rings up terrified that someone is trying to get into her house. Gardaí go out and catch the guy. His story? Gardaí chased him into a garden and arrested him for trespassing. That's the story he'll tell his friends and they'll be dumb enough to believe.

As to the ops question as to accomplishments, I'll leave this here.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0907/rathfarnham-dublin-gardai.html

That's some victim saved from a bullet. Will he thank the Gardaí? No chance.

davet82

MagicSean wrote: »

That's some victim saved from a bullet. Will he thank the Gardaí? No chance.

i read this in the indo today, unarmed gardaí chase down armed gangsters on the way to a hit...

with limited resources and less pay, risking life and limb, these coppers save some innocent person or another gangster, who also despises them, as part of their job...

hell of a job lads, not that you'd see any threads about that

cursai

i spoke to the local sergeant. They wont investigate the death of my budgie. I told them id go all freeman on them and tear my souped up starlet around town................they didnt care.

MagicSean

cursai wrote: »

i spoke to the local sergeant. They wont investigate the death of my budgie. I told them id go all freeman on them and tear my souped up starlet around town................they didnt care.

Make it look suspicious and force a coroners inquest.

Valetta

cursai wrote: »

i spoke to the local sergeant. They wont investigate the death of my budgie. I told them id go all freeman on them and tear my souped up starlet around town................they didnt care.

That's a cheep shot.

Bet you wouldn't tweet it.

davet82

cursai wrote: »

i spoke to the local sergeant. They wont investigate the death of my budgie. I told them id go all freeman on them and tear my souped up starlet around town................they didnt care.

Ace Ventura (pet detective) - 1550 29 29 29

you welcome :cool:

Gardai individually are mostly great guys that put up with a lot of crap.

Together as a machine they are a piece of crap.

I blame the manufacturer.

cursai

davet82 wrote: »

Ace Ventura (pet detective) - 1550 29 29 29

you welcome :cool:

Thanks. He'll be a hole of a lot better than those oinky oinky. i broke into my aunts house one day and nobody caught me. i had a key but still. i didnt tell her i was comin over wha!.
I LOVE YOU BUDGIE!
Broom broom brooooooooommmmmm.

cursai

Deleted User wrote: »

Gardai individually are mostly great guys that put up with a lot of crap.

Together as a machine they are a piece of crap.

I blame the manufacturer.

I'm sure thats the same issue with all police forces though. none of them work perfectly. Although the Gardai like a lot of other third world police forces needs to be updated and modernised.

megafan

CreepingDeath wrote: »

Burglars use gloves.
Plus they'd have to fingerprint everyone in your house and previous visitors to rule their fingerprints out.

Why would a burglar bother wearing gloves? To hide fingerprints? from who the guards... tooooo much trouble & even if taken their filed away never to be seen again.... All the police do is help in insurance claim by signing form! (eventually)

Border-Rat

I remember once the Gardai here found semtex on the border, split the cache and buried the other half. A while after they claimed to have found another cache. They wanted praise and and a pat on the back for this fine work.

JRant

MagicSean wrote: »

I wouldn't class aiding a criminal as making a mistake to be honest. I made mistakes but managed to stay clear of helping someone evade capture. Maybe it's because I didn't grow up somewhere as rough as you. Mayube where you come from it takes courage to not be a criminal. Where i come from not being a criminal is not something to aspire to. It's the default position.


It does make them a scumbag. I get what you are saying about cause and effect and I agree. But I also know that the majority of those mean Garda stories are bull****, either exaggerated ot completely fabricated. I saw it in action just last night. 82 year old woman rings up terrified that someone is trying to get into her house. Gardaí go out and catch the guy. His story? Gardaí chased him into a garden and arrested him for trespassing. That's the story he'll tell his friends and they'll be dumb enough to believe.

As to the ops question as to accomplishments, I'll leave this here.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0907/rathfarnham-dublin-gardai.html

That's some victim saved from a bullet. Will he thank the Gardaí? No chance.

Of course it was a mistake, One error in judgement like that does not a scumbag make.

I'm not sure if your being sincere or patronizing! Yes it was a rough area but the default position of most of us was not to become a criminal either. For a lot of us it was to play for Dublin or get scouted by an English club, as many from the area did, or get a good education to make a decent living. It's attitudes like this that make it difficult for people from certain areas to get a fair crack of the whip and is reinforced when the Gardai treat everyone as a 'default criminal'.

I'm sure some stories are of the fisherman variety but to dismiss most is being slightly disengenuos. One such example was coming home with my record bag ( was into the dj'n at the time). Got stopped, asked why I was stopped and told it was because I may have drugs on me! Searched my bag and the first question I was asked was where I'd robbed the records from. Got brought to my folks house by them and my father wasn't long putting them straight.

Not sure what your getting at regards the 82 year old woman. So that's the excuse he gave the garda? If he was caught in the act he'll get done and it will not matter one jot what he told his friends.

Laois_Man

Whatever you say about the Gardai being corrupt, they're nowhere near as bad as their counterparts accross the water.....

MagicSean

JRant wrote: »

Of course it was a mistake, One error in judgement like that does not a scumbag make.

I'm not sure if your being sincere or patronizing! Yes it was a rough area but the default position of most of us was not to become a criminal either. For a lot of us it was to play for Dublin or get scouted by an English club, as many from the area did, or get a good education to make a decent living. It's attitudes like this that make it difficult for people from certain areas to get a fair crack of the whip and is reinforced when the Gardai treat everyone as a 'default criminal'.

I don't consider aiding a criminal to escape to be a simple teenage mistake. i consider it to be nothing more than a deliberate criminal act. If it was a mistake there would be remorse of some kind and not an attempt to justify the action by saying a garda was rude to me once.

JRant wrote: »

I'm sure some stories are of the fisherman variety but to dismiss most is being slightly disengenuos. One such example was coming home with my record bag ( was into the dj'n at the time). Got stopped, asked why I was stopped and told it was because I may have drugs on me! Searched my bag and the first question I was asked was where I'd robbed the records from. Got brought to my folks house by them and my father wasn't long putting them straight.

Not sure what your getting at regards the 82 year old woman. So that's the excuse he gave the garda? If he was caught in the act he'll get done and it will not matter one jot what he told his friends.

My point is that he will tell his story of the big bad Gardaí and his mates will likely believe him and use it to justify their contempt towards Gardaí in the future. If you have an experience that you think justifies your contempt for all Gardaí then fair enough. It's a childish mentality but understandable to a certain degree. If you base your feeling towards Gardaí on stories you hear, then you are likely basing your view on bull****.

Here's another one for the op

http://www.thejournal.ie/garda-car-ramming-limerick-589328-Sep2012/

OnTheCounter

If everyone in the prisons were released in the morning the country would be in chaos.

Its not in chaos now.

The guards are the most important reason for that.

Like anyone else, if you act like a dickhead they will treat you like one.

JRant

MagicSean wrote: »

I don't consider aiding a criminal to escape to be a simple teenage mistake. i consider it to be nothing more than a deliberate criminal act. If it was a mistake there would be remorse of some kind and not an attempt to justify the action by saying a garda was rude to me once.


My point is that he will tell his story of the big bad Gardaí and his mates will likely believe him and use it to justify their contempt towards Gardaí in the future. If you have an experience that you think justifies your contempt for all Gardaí then fair enough. It's a childish mentality but understandable to a certain degree. If you base your feeling towards Gardaí on stories you hear, then you are likely basing your view on bull****.

Here's another one for the op

http://www.thejournal.ie/garda-car-ramming-limerick-589328-Sep2012/

So a teenager can make a simple mistake like that and you'd happily call them a criminal for the rest of their lives! How do you know the young man wasn't remorseful about it?

Your just making stuff up at this stage. How do you know what he said to his mates and what they believed? Sure anybody could make stuff up like that to suit whatever argument they wanted.

Show me where I said I had contempt for the Garda. You'll be a long time trying because it never happened. I've merely pointed out how I've seen both sides to the force, good & bad, and am of the opinion that it depends on the area you grow up in.

It's the Garda and people like you that view individuals as 'default criminals' because of where they live that needs a serious attitude overhaul.