House break in - No police response

Unique User Name · 11-06-2011 12:34AM #1

Just wondering if other people have had the same experience as me. 2 weeks ago I heard some guys breaking into my house so I called 999 and informed them and they assured me that a car was on the way. Anyway I opened the window and the guys attempting to break in were scared off. However I never informed the gardai of this.

So I waited and waited and still no Garda response. They never sent a car!! As far as they knew I was being burgled with the culprits in the house. Is this a common occurrence? It would'n't make me feel so good about the safety of elderly relatives.

WoollyRedHat · 11-06-2011 12:38AM

No, you see first, you get burgled, then after they've gone, well gone,the police come and then, well that's it, you don't hear from them again, if you're lucky you might get a look into that type message that usually comes to nothing

orourkeda · 11-06-2011 12:40AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8k1d8uX9Gw

Yakult · 11-06-2011 12:41AM

What would have happened if they attacked you or killed you and then no response from the guards? Hoping it's not a common occurrence.

mikemac · 11-06-2011 12:42AM

As the old joke goes you should have said you had a shotgun and you were about to shoot the burglars.

The ERU would be out to you in no time

Matthew23 · 11-06-2011 12:43AM

maybe it is a drugdealers house?

OutlawPete · 11-06-2011 12:45AM

Yakult wrote: »

What would have happened if they attacked you or killed you and then no response from the guards?

We'd be a thread short for a start.

Karona · 11-06-2011 12:47AM

Why did you not ring them back up and give out s**t to them, i know for certain i would.:mad:

cusackd · 11-06-2011 12:47AM

I work in an industry where i call emergency services and the Garda on a regular basis and it is very common, who's your local garda station?

policarp · 11-06-2011 12:49AM

Are you for real?
Gardai at your beck and call.
That was the the last election MANIFESTO.
Vote ??????

mikemac · 11-06-2011 12:50AM

Was it this time two weeks ago?

So Friday night/Saturday morning?

They'll be very busy at those hours

Unique User Name · 11-06-2011 12:51AM

Karona wrote: »

Why did you not ring them back up and give out s**t to them, i know for certain i would.:mad:

I probably should have in hindsight. I just thought if i did it wouldn't bring a squad car but still it should have been raised.

cusackd wrote: »

I work in an industry where i call emergency services and the Garda on a regular basis and it is very common, who's your local garda station?

Maybe I'm being naive but I'm disappointed to hear that. My local garda station is howth road.

Unique User Name · 11-06-2011 12:53AM

mikemac wrote: »

Was it this time two weeks ago?

So Friday night/Saturday morning?

They'll be very busy at those hours

It was Sunday morning at 6 o clock so they were probably quite busy alright. I get the whole under resourced arguement but I still think it's not unreasonable to expect some response.

Crime.ie · 11-06-2011 12:56AM

Unique User Name wrote: »

I probably should have in hindsight. I just thought if i did it wouldn't bring a squad car but still it should have been raised.

Maybe I'm being naive but I'm disappointed to hear that. My local garda station is howth road.

The best thing you can do in this situation is call your local Garda station as you will be speaking to some one with an identity and they take ownership over this, as with many call centres or control rooms there is always the issue of passing the book. I know it might be a bit strange but in a situation like this i would always take out the middle men and go straight to the station.

mikemac · 11-06-2011 12:57AM

A burglary at 6am

So unlikely to be opportunistic junkies out for an easy target.
Could well be experienced burglars.

I'd watch out OP, a good chance they'll be back. Give a heads up to the neighbours, some will heading off on holidays

Crime.ie · 11-06-2011 12:58AM

Unique User Name wrote: »

It was Sunday morning at 6 o clock so they were probably quite busy alright. I get the whole under resourced arguement but I still think it's not unreasonable to expect some response.

Under Resourced or not a burglary taking place in someones home with people inside should always be at the top of the priority list for the Garda.

Unique User Name · 11-06-2011 01:01AM

mikemac wrote: »

A burglary at 6am

So unlikely to be opportunistic junkies out for an easy target.
Could well be experienced burglars.

I'd watch out OP, a good chance they'll be back. Give a heads up to the neighbours, some will heading off on holidays

There have been quite a few break ins in the neighbourhood the last while so you probably have a very valid point.

Unique User Name · 11-06-2011 01:03AM

Crime.ie wrote: »

The best thing you can do in this situation is call your local Garda station as you will be speaking to some one with an identity and they take ownership over this, as with many call centres or control rooms there is always the issue of passing the book. I know it might be a bit strange but in a situation like this i would always take out the middle men and go straight to the station.

Appreciate the advice. It seems to be a common enough theme recently so I'll be sure to inform the neighbours.

Crime.ie · 11-06-2011 01:11AM

Another Options is to put a panic alarm beside the bed and get your alarm monitor by a reputable company that have been granted a PSA(Private Security Authority).

What Happens Here:

Press the Panic Button
Sends Signal to Control Room
Control Room calls garda control
Garda control issue a panic alarm to the local station

I have yet to see this type of procedure fail and is quite quick given the amount of steps all done in under a minute.

mikemac · 11-06-2011 01:14AM

Do you have a car outside? A nice one?
There was a big thread in motor forum on burglaries for the purpose of getting car keys.

Has to be done as with modern electronics you can't just simply hotwire a modern car as I understand

languagenerd · 11-06-2011 01:15AM

There was a group on Facebook a while ago called "Living in a society where a pizza arrives quicker than the police" - loads of people thought it was funny, but, scarily, it's true!

A break-in where the house-owner is in the house with the burglar should take precedence over most other calls - A) They should not leave people in this sort of danger and

they have a chance (like no other) to catch the burglar red-handed.

This country is so backwards sometimes...:mad:

Unique User Name · 11-06-2011 01:19AM

mikemac wrote: »

Do you have a car outside? A nice one?
There was a big thread in motor forum on burglaries for the purpose of getting car keys.

Has to be done as with modern electronics you can't just simply hotwire a modern car as I understand

Actually my car is quite old, I think it's more a case of the neighbourhood being targetted to be honest.

languagenerd wrote: »

There was a group on Facebook a while ago called "Living in a society where a pizza arrives quicker than the police" - loads of people thought it was funny, but, scarily, it's true!

A break-in where the house-owner is in the house with the burglar should take precedence over most other calls - A) They should not leave people in this sort of danger and they have a chance (like no other) to catch the burglar red-handed.

This country is so backwards sometimes...:mad:

I agree it's very frustrating, I don't blame the gardai themselves, I have a lot of friends that do it. It just seems to be the whole management of things that's disorganised e.g. my call being ignored.

languagenerd · 11-06-2011 01:23AM

Unique User Name wrote: »

I agree it's very frustrating, I don't blame the gardai themselves, I have a lot of friends that do it. It just seems to be the whole management of things that's disorganised e.g. my call being ignored.

Oh I know, the gardai are under-resourced - especially now that the whole year's budget went on the Queen of England and Obama's visits. It's just completely unacceptable that this sort of call goes unanswered!

policarp · 11-06-2011 01:27AM

Robbed 3 times .
Gardai Useless.
Insurance Useless.
Why pay tax or insurance?

Laisurg · 11-06-2011 01:32AM

It depends on the guards, a violent drunk from the area that i used to live tried force his way into the apartment complex i was living in at the time, the garda got there in about 10 mins with about 8 guards, now this guy was very well known to the guards and was mentally ill so that might have shifted them but it's very unusual that no one turned up at all.

epgc3fyqirnbsx · 11-06-2011 01:33AM

This is the exact same as the problems with O'Connell street. Not enough Gardai
I have mates in the force, they hear this on the radio and would truly like to go out (they are human remember) but iif there's only 4 on their little section who are easily caught up in other things it cannot be done
For instance, you arrest someone for drunk and disorderly, thats a couple of hours of a garda being gone and off the street and on a weekend when that can happen quite a bit, you can be left with no gardai on an area at an early hour.

It's lack of resources lads plain and simple. Anmy garda will tell you also thaat their should be staff, non-garda, to look after a lot of the paperwork, and some sort of commisioners on the front desk

mikemac · 11-06-2011 01:35AM

The call would have been logged.

Maybe write a letter to the superintendent and they can check what happened.

And at the same time you can highlight the burglaries in the area.

If you want, you can copy the letter to your local councillor about the burglaries. Some councillors do good work and meet the superintendent for discussions.
Ours did anyway, he's the only councillor around here who does anything!

epgc3fyqirnbsx · 11-06-2011 01:37AM

Crime.ie wrote: »

Under Resourced or not a burglary taking place in someones home with people inside should always be at the top of the priority list for the Garda.

Yes it should, but do you let the lads out of the back of your car then?
Do you abandon your posts doing breath tests where you get abused for not doing them in the first place?
If Gardai had complete disretion on an individual basis of what they could do I would have no doubt they would call out and do something like that but they dont. Politics plays a big part in it too
And using your own cop on, if the cops came out to a burglary on a sat night that would take at least an hour of them being off the street when people are complaining of a lack of police presence on the streets anyway

Catch 22. Lack of numbers, simple as imo

Unique User Name · 11-06-2011 01:39AM

Lara Brave Lumberjack wrote: »

This is the exact same as the problems with O'Connell street. Not enough Gardai
I have mates in the force, they hear this on the radio and would truly like to go out (they are human remember) but iif there's only 4 on their little section who are easily caught up in other things it cannot be done
For instance, you arrest someone for drunk and disorderly, thats a couple of hours of a garda being gone and off the street and on a weekend when that can happen quite a bit, you can be left with no gardai on an area at an early hour.

It's lack of resources lads plain and simple. Anmy garda will tell you also thaat their should be staff, non-garda, to look after a lot of the paperwork, and some sort of commisioners on the front desk

I agree and I have said that as well. I just don't think that's good enough though, I'm absolutely not blaming Gardai on the frontline but I think that house break ins should be prioritised from higher up.

epgc3fyqirnbsx · 11-06-2011 01:42AM

I'd never blame gardai on the frontline alright, they're just doing their job, but I just honestly can't see any sort of a solution unless there were gardai in abundance. Which there isn't, and wont be for 15 years anyways...

starviewadams · 11-06-2011 02:11AM

''Get a dog'',that was the un-official advice from the Gardai that arrived nearly two hours after my uncle had rang them after he heard two lads trying to break in at the back of his house.

OutlawPete · 11-06-2011 02:15AM

Be careful when you phone the Guards with what information you give them. Last year I phoned them when my neighbours door got kicked in at a bunch of lads where threatening the couple in the house. These lads are well know thugs, regularly involved in shootings and two of them have been murdered.

Guards come up and they start arguing with the lads who are denying everything and so one Guard radios in to the station, right in front of them as says: "Could you give me a description of the man, that the witness seen kick the door in" and the despatch girl says: "It was the man living in the house next door that phoned it in, knock in there and ask him to give you a description" :eek:

/I am now in a witness protection programme.

11-06-2011 04:17AM

WoollyRedHat wrote: »

No, you see first, you get burgled, then after they've gone, well gone,the police come and then, well that's it, you don't hear from them again, if you're lucky you might get a look into that type message that usually comes to nothing

This is exactly what happened me... Burgled with a knife, a hurl, and a breadboard with nails. The guards don't arrive for 35 mins or so.. 5 mins after the scum had left. They barely believed us even though the door was kicked in.

****.

Feelgood · 11-06-2011 05:09AM

Heres your police response, sincere apologies about the delay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T1c7GkzRQQ

Son Of A Vidic · 11-06-2011 08:39AM

OP - Try driving a cop car after you've ate a box of doughnuts, it's not easy is all I'm saying.

hondasam · 11-06-2011 08:46AM

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

OP - Try driving a cop car after you've ate a box of doughnuts, it's not easy is all I'm saying.

doughnuts is so old, its snack box now.

Bosco boy · 11-06-2011 09:10AM

I can't understand why someone wouldn't get back on the phone and asK where the fcuk are ye? It's as if they like the value they
get out of being able to say they didn't turn up, I've often been in a patrol car that was the only car in the district, you get a call to a fatal accident or a sudden death and everything else is put on hold because you simply have to remain with that call. There will be every effort made to get another district to do the call but they are up to their eyeballs as well, get used to it folks as resources dwindle.

hondasam · 11-06-2011 09:16AM

Bosco boy wrote: »

I can't understand why someone wouldn't get back on the phone and asK where the fcuk are ye? It's as if they like the value they
get out of being able to say they didn't turn up, I've often been in a patrol car that was the only car in the district, you get a call to a fatal accident or a sudden death and everything else is put on hold because you simply have to remain with that call. There will be every effort made to get another district to do the call but they are up to their eyeballs as well, get used to it folks as resources dwindle.

It would seem like the logical thing to do but if the op done that we would not have this lovely garda bashing thread.

How Strange · 11-06-2011 09:20AM

Similar thing happened to mr years ago. A guy tried to break the window to my bedroom in a ground floor apartment. He was out of his mind drunk and thought he lived there. Rang the gardai 3 times in half an hour and said I was a woman on my own and a guy was trying to break in. They never showed up.

Saw 3 kids locked into a car on a freezing cold night while parents were in the pub. Me and a few other concerned paserbys rang the gardai as there was a very distressed toddler in the car. We told them the parents were in the pub. There were about 5 calls in an hour and guess what-they never came. Parents came out if the pub steaming drunk and drove home.

Padraig Mor · 11-06-2011 09:32AM

hondasam wrote: »

It would seem like the logical thing to do but if the op done that we would not have this lovely garda bashing thread.

Surely apprehending criminals who are CURRENTLY in the process of committing a crime and may or may not injure or worse the householders should take priority over virtually any other duty?

Or could it be that it's just EASIER to deal with a burglary after the scum have left?

Terrontress · 11-06-2011 09:33AM

I once believed I was witnessing a child abduction at Charlotte's Quay at Ringsend. There was a kid struggling to get away from a dodgy looking guy who was holding on to him while the kid cried. I could open a window to shout but not get there quickly so I phoned 999. After I told the guards I told the guy that they were on their way.

It transpired that the adult owned a boat and had caught a load of kids trashing it and the child was one of them. He was glad I had called the guards. So I decided to just keep an eye and await the Gardai. Once the kid calmed down the man didn't take him anywhere, just held him there.

In spite of me phoning in what I told them was a child abduction, and my inability to intervene, it took 1h 10m for Gardai to arrive!

swingking · 11-06-2011 09:38AM

Sure the gardai have more important things to be doing like checking peoples road tax :rolleyes:

El Weirdo · 11-06-2011 09:43AM

Crime.ie wrote: »

Another Options is to put a panic alarm beside the bed and get your alarm monitor by a reputable company that have been granted a PSA(Private Security Authority).

What Happens Here:
Press the Panic Button

Sends Signal to Control Room

Control Room calls garda control

Garda control issue a panic alarm to the local station

I have yet to see this type of procedure fail and is quite quick given the amount of steps all done in under a minute.

I'm sorry, but are you saying that people who can afford to pay for such a service (I presume that this doesn't come cheap), are provided with a more efficient policing service?

I don't like the sound of that one bit.

Bosco boy · 11-06-2011 09:51AM

swingking wrote: »

Sure the gardai have more important things to be doing like checking peoples road tax :rolleyes:

Jesus! I never heard that one before, well done

weldoninhio · 11-06-2011 09:55AM

Didn't you get the memo?? The police are no longer dealing with crimes. from now on they will be a revenue collecting service for the govt. They are in the process of changing the motto To Protect and Serve, from now on it'll be To Collect and Serve Fixed Fine Notices.

In my town, the local scout den is directly across the road from the Garda Station, in the entrance to a wooded area. Teenagers etc gather here to drink, do drugs, and whatever else teenagers do. Recently a younger group of cubs (7-12yos) were in the den and the youths outside were making noise, kicking footballs against the windows etc. The scout master asked them if they wouldn't mind moving to the side of the building because they were scaring the kids. The teenagers told him to fcuk off, or they would burn down the building with him and the kids inside it. The scout leader called the police, but was told there was nothing they could do.

So being proactive, he decided to get evidence on them, thinking this would give the gardai the power to do something (i.e. it wouldn't just be his word against theirs) so he took pictures of them causing damage etc. Again was told nothing we can do and warned that if he continued taking photos of young boys they might report him and he would be in trouble!!!!

Bosco boy · 11-06-2011 09:57AM

Crime.ie wrote: »

Another Options is to put a panic alarm beside the bed and get your alarm monitor by a reputable company that have been granted a PSA(Private Security Authority).

What Happens Here:
Press the Panic Button

Sends Signal to Control Room

Control Room calls garda control

Garda control issue a panic alarm to the local station

I have yet to see this type of procedure fail and is quite quick given the amount of steps all done in under a minute.

They get the same response as the person who calls direct, if the resources are there to do the call they do it, but fine if you have money to burn!

DanTheMan91 · 11-06-2011 10:01AM

I lost faith in them a few years ago when I was verbally abused by a woman guard, she screamed at me for about 2 minutes straight, while I stood there shocked and slightly terrified.
If there ever was a robbery at my house, it would not be the guards I would be phoning.

Bosco boy · 11-06-2011 10:06AM

DanTheMan91 wrote: »

I lost faith in them a few years ago when I was verbally abused by a woman guard, she screamed at me for about 2 minutes straight, while I stood there shocked and slightly terrified.
If there ever was a robbery at my house, it would not be the guards I would be phoning.

She just randomly walked up to you and did this? Wow!

irishgeo · 11-06-2011 10:09AM

tell them you work in a bank and you think its a tiger kinapping they be round in a second.

my mate told me this story, his sister used to own a house in my estate, her neighbours house was broken into a week or 2 before she rang the local station to say there was 2 fellas in car outside her house acting suspiciously, Sorry, We have no car available was the response, she rings back the husband and explains this, he ringsthe station back and says he " if you have no car available , ill go up myself so and there might be trouble, the garda car with flashing lights was out the road ahead of him.

front line gardai might be only doing their job and i know a few myself but i went to the local station to get the passport form stamped, i counted 6 gardai sat in behind the public window area. 1 on public window duty, 1 answering the phone , 2 traffic core members from the his vis jackets they were wearing and 2 others gardai drinking tea.

in this an age should gardai really be stamping forms etc?

why cant the garda reserve be put in charge of the public desk,stamping forms and answering the phones and let the gardai with arrest powers be out on the street why not get the reserve garda to escort the arrested person back to the station instead of the full garda, leave him on the street to arrest more people. We could also get the to garda reserve to drive the garda van with the arrested person back to the station as the arresting has already been done. i should write to the minister for justice with these suggestions!

from watching police camera action it seems to work rather different in england, you see some officers dont always go back with the arrested person and pass them off to the mobile police van, also they seem to have a desk sergeant who books the arrested person in.

cursai · 11-06-2011 10:10AM

DanTheMan91 wrote: »

I lost faith in them a few years ago when I was verbally abused by a woman guard, she screamed at me for about 2 minutes straight, while I stood there shocked and slightly terrified.
If there ever was a robbery at my house, it would not be the guards I would be phoning.

Its a common occurrence for a guard to JUST walk up to you and start yelling for NO reason AT all!

spurious · 11-06-2011 10:12AM

Much as I'd love to join in the Garda knocking, can anyone who has knowledge of the workings of the service explain why exactly they don't have civilians dealing with the routine paperwork?

House break in - No police response

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