Twenty-six crime analysts are to be hired to assist gardaí in the fight against organised crime. They will also identify serious public order and anti-social behaviour trends so that gardaí can formulate the most effective local policing plans possible.
The Department of Justice has confirmed that three senior management posts for the analysis unit will be advertised before the end of the year. Once these are filled recruitment will begin for the 26 analysts.
The unit will study crime data and from this create a profile of emerging crime trends. Resources will then be targeted at these areas.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has also used analysts to assist in the investigation of major crimes.
Patterns in known gang activity are studied in an effort to establish co-operation between members of different groups and in a bid to identify common modus operandi when drawing up lists of suspects for offences.
Trends relating to organised house breaking in particular localities, where car keys are stolen and vehicles driven away, can also be identified quickly. This would allow gardaí to mount covert surveillance before criminals move on to another area.
The analysts are often used in the North to sift through large amounts of information during investigations. Charts and accompanying reports, depicting visually "what happened", are routinely produced in murder and other serious cases. They also assist in a judge and jury's understanding of complex cases when they go to trial.
The unit in the Republic will assist gardaí across the State in identifying local trends.
For example, trends could include low-level drug dealing in specific city centre locations which would be targeted with saturation levels of manpower when activity is at its peak.
In Northern Ireland, more than 100 officers have been used to swarm drug-dealing locations identified by analysts. In 2002 a new city centre assaults policy was put into place in the North. It greatly reduced such incidents by channelling resources into specific locations at specific times.
Meanwhile, a new national forensic science laboratory is to be built at Garda Headquarters, Phoenix Park, Dublin.
Talks on the project have already been concluded between the director of the Department of Justice's forensic science laboratory Dr Sheila Wallis, Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy and officials from the department and the Office of Public Works.
The new laboratory will house, among other things, the mooted DNA database. It will also include a national evidence repository, allowing for the long-term storage of evidence to facilitate cold case reviews if new information emerges many years after a crime is committed.
The current laboratory at Garda Headquarters dates back to the early 1970s and is described as "grossly inadequate". The new building is expected to be ready by the end of 2009.
