The latest statistics from a prominent road safety group reveal a continual decrease in the number of police officers dedicated to road-monitoring duties. Over 100 have been lost since 2021, 35 of which have left since the onset of the previous year. This downward trend in officers serving in the Roads Policing Unit is occurring despite an appeal from Helen McEntee, the Justice Minister, late last year to curb the decline.
The safety advocacy group, Parc, drawing on data from the Department of Justice, found numbers in the Roads Policing Unit had slipped from 688 in January 2023 to 641 by the close of November. By January this year, the figure further dropped to 627, only slightly above the low point of 623 recorded in 2017.
Within this larger figure, specific regions have also experienced losses. Dublin’s Roads Policing Unit has shed 13 officers since 2022, with Donegal, Sligo/Leitrim and Cork all also seeing reductions in their road-specific police forces.
The official police figures suggest this falling pattern started back in 2009 when the Roads Policing Unit had 1,046 members. There has been a consistent shrinkage across all regions over the past 15 years, in some cases, marking over 50 per cent decrease.
In response to this trend, McEntee reaffirmed in October of last year the intention to bolster these road units. However, Susan Gray from Parc has questioned the government’s dedication to this cause, given the figures. She expressed unease over the diminishing police force, stating that this vital role is in danger of being underestimated, consequentially endangering more lives.
“In light of smaller numbers of police officers, it’s undeniable this impacts road safety,” she said. “In 2018, the Police Commissioner vowed to raise the Roads Policing Unit numbers back to over 1,000, their size in 2009, but this promise remained unfulfilled. It’s my view that safety on the roads is not being given priority.”
Ms Gray has issued a stern warning flagging an imminent peril of increasing fatalities on the roads throughout the current year, attributing this directly to the reduction in police presence. The recent tally of lives claimed on the roads of Ireland has hit 47 by mid last week. This figure depicts an increase of seven from the same phase in 2023, a year remembered for its record high road fatalities. Among the casualties so far this year, 19 are from the age group of 6 to 27. Ms Gray lamented the loss of these young lives who had barely begun their journey in the world.
The Garda, in response, stated that while it refrains from divulging specific numbers corresponding to special units or internal personnel competitiveness, there could be changes in the police force every month due to multiple factors including familial considerations, encouragement of transfers and promotions within the force. The official stance does not advocate any reduction in the number of officers assigned to the Roads Policing Units.
In an official statement, it was clarified that as the recruitment process within the Garda continues to gain momentum, supplemental members would be made ready to be dispensed to areas of high priority, roads policing included.
A representative from the Garda clarified that roads policing is a dedicated area of expertise and replacements are chosen based solely on internal competition. He also shared that there are advanced plans for initiating an internal competition for the Roads Policing Units in the forthcoming future.