Bullying and harassment of gardaí on social media needs to be tackled by the force’s management, delegates at the Garda Representative Association’s conference have heard.
Some of the worst attacks on social media on gardaí were by colleagues, delegates said privately.
Suicide might be on a downward trend nationally but among gardaí it was high, and had increased “dramatically”, the outgoing association president Dermot O’Brien said.
“While the Central Statistics Office cannot supply data on suicide rates by occupation, it is apparent that the number of members of An Garda Síochána who have committed suicide is high compared to figures for the general population in the relevant age group,” he said.
“The trend in the general population is downward while it has increased dramatically in An Garda Síochána.”
Social media has become “a new weapon” to attack the force with Twitter and Facebook allowing the public to engage with society with immediate effect, he said.
“However, when social media is used to target criticise and bully our members some Garda Management have been lacking in openly defending us,” he said.
Some of the allegations levelled were “outrageous” such as that money was offered for personal information, and “ threats made against us with little or no action being taken by Garda management,” Mr O’Brien added.
Gardaí attacked online were left powerless and a policy on social media to assist gardaí who were attacked in this way was urgently required.
The meeting heard mental health issues for frontline gardaí have not been properly addressed and a 24/7 counselling service for gardai on the frontline, available to other emergency services, was only now being implemented.
“We are the first to respond but we are the last to be responded to,” he said in remarks heard by Garda commissioner Noirín O’Sullivan who was in attendance.
The review of welfare has been ongoing for six years. The bullying and harassment joint policy for four years.
In her response, Ms O’Sullivan said she was happy to announce the contract for a 24/7 counselling service for gardai had been signed and said one of the key issues is the development of a Wellness Strategy to enhance the mental and physical health of all our people.
She urged members to use the service — it was not a sign of weakness but of strength when someone realised they needed help, the commissioner said.