Spain expresses sympathy for family at centre of Securicor kidnapping
Sinn Féin Dublin Mid West general election candidate Joanne Spain has expressed
sympathy for the Lucan family targeted in the latest Securicor kidnapping
and robbery incident. Spain called on the Minister for Justice Michael
McDowell to make sure the gardaí had enough resources to deal with the rise
in this kind of crime.
Ms Spain said:
"The spate of
kidnapping and robbery involving security companies has sent a ripple of
fear through employees in those firms. It is my hope that these companies
are doing everything in their power to make sure their employees are
protected and kept informed of what steps are being taken to stop these
incidents.
"The Gardaí have a tough job dealing with such
well-organised crime. They need to be fully resourced to make sure they can
do their job effectively. This kind of situation reveals how useless
Minister McDowell's reserve force is. We need fully trained guards to deal
with the rise in crime in this state.
"Poorly trained reserve
members are not going to instill confidence in people living in fear. Any
extra Garda numbers needed should be achieved through the civilianisation of
a number of Garda duties in particular admin duties and by introducing a
dedicated civilian
traffic corps. An Garda Síochána have a very low
percentage of civilian staff by comparative standards.
"The
number of crimes in the west of Dublin is alarming. When is the Government
going to wake up to what's happening in this part of the city?" ENDS