Spitting assaults on gardaí increase as Policing Authority opposes ‘spit hoods’

Assaults on gardaí involving spitting or coughing have begun to increase again in recent weeks, though the Policing Authority has expressed its opposition to controversial "spit hoods" being used on suspects.

Separately, it has also emerged less than half of the 23,000 on-the-spot fines issued for breaches of Covid-19 regulations since the onset of the pandemic have been paid.

The authority wants the public to be asked for its views on the use of spit hoods, in a consultative process that should be based on human rights. It noted comments from senior Garda management were now focused on how the hoods, introduced in the early phase of the pandemic, could be better used rather than when they might be withdrawn.

The hoods are placed over the head of a suspect to prevent them spitting at arresting gardaí but they have been opposed by the Policing Authority on human rights grounds and because it disputes their effectiveness.

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The Policing Authority has also noted most community organisations and domestic violence victims had been “overwhelmingly” satisfied with policing during the pandemic. Those stakeholders noted a more supportive and respectful “tone”, as the Garda focused more on “protecting” the community rather than “policing” it.

Furthermore, organisations working in the area of domestic violence believed the improved proactive Garda approach to at-risk victims would endure after the pandemic had ended.

"A challenge will be to give reality to the [Garda] Commissioner's expressed commitment to capture the experiences of the last two years and to make them a permanent part of the style and approach of the Garda Síochána's policing service," said Policing Authority chairman Bob Collins.

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said she believed "the relationship between An Garda Síochána and the communities it serves has been strengthened" during the pandemic.

“I am confident that bond can be maintained and built upon. I also know that An Garda Síochána is committed to ensuring that its relationship with all our communities is as strong as possible,” she said.

However, the Policing Authority’s latest report on policing during the pandemic also noted how some sectors of society had been more disappointed with policing, including “Travellers, students and young people, in particular young people of colour”.

The “resilience” of the noted “goodwill” in policing in the early stages of the pandemic “appears to have been eroded over time” and “much of that optimism” was now “gone”.

Attacks on gardaí

The authority’s sixteenth policing review since the pandemic began revealed there were 24 attacks on Garda members involving spitting or coughing last month. That figure is to November 27th and Garda sources said the full month figure was “closer to 30”.

Those 24 confirmed recorded cases last month were the highest since July and August last year, when 25 such attacks were recorded in each month. The Garda has recorded 140 occasions on which the anti-spit hoods have been used since mid-April 2020, when they were introduced.

To date some 23,112 fixed-charge notices or on-the-spot fines have been issued for Covid-19 breaches, with just 882 of those enforcement actions taking place since July 9th. In just less than half the cases, 47 per cent, the fines had been paid. In the remaining 53 per cent of cases, the unpaid fines already had, or would, result in a prosecution in the courts.

Leaving home without a reasonable excuse accounted for 65 per cent of the fixed-charged notices, while “attending events in dwellings” accounted for 14 per cent and “international travel to ports and airports” account for 11 per cent.

While those restrictions no longer apply, the Policing Authority said it was possible some of the enforcement actions witnessed in the early part of the pandemic may return if cases spiked in the months ahead and new restrictions were introduced.

The 1,503 enforcement actions related to foreign travel included 975 “incidents relating to a failure to produce a negative PCR test on arrival into the country”. Another 469 fixed-charge notices arose from “breaches in mandatory hotel quarantine and 53 related to breaches on mandatory quarantine outside of designated facilities”.

Operation Navigation, which has enforced Covid-19 regulations relating to licensed premises, recorded 474 breaches since March 2020, while Operation Treoraím, which polices restrictions applying to the retail sector, has recorded 237 breaches.