“We’ve been struggling to get back to good, strong democratic policing principles in this country,” Ms O’Toole said of the US. “I think we’ve really veered off course for several decades.”Ms O’Toole said one of the key lessons US police forces could learn from the Garda is “community involvement”. And it was really the police versus the community, as opposed to police working with the community,” Ms O’Toole said. “Accountability is a huge piece of the puzzle,” said Ms O’Toole, who was also a member of the Patten commission in Northern Ireland which established the PSNI following the Belfast Agreement. Ms O’Toole added she was “really pleased” with the Garda’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, particularly its focus on helping vulnerable members of the community.

Source: The Irish Times July 06, 2020 03:11 UTC