Garda Reserve will not Work - John Timoney

One of America's most distinguished police officers has claimed a garda reserve force won't work because the force cannot rely on volunteers.
John Timoney, who is credited with seriously reducing crime in New York with a zero tolerance policy, said Ireland needs more full-time gardai instead of relying on reserves.
Mr. Timoney, who turned a crime-ridden Big Apple around in the mid-1990's under its mayor, Rudy Giuliani, said the real problem is that garda are understaffed.
He pointed out that New York, with a population of eight million, has 40,000 full-time police officers and 10,000 civilian workers. In comparison, Ireland, with half that population, has just 12,000 gardai.
"Clearly they are under-funded, Ireland is doing very well now, but there's a need to spend some of the money on the criminal justice criminal system," he said.
Mr. Timoney, who is now police chief in Miami, also criticized the practice of having garda stations with limited opening hours.
He said that he didn't pretend to know more than Justice Minister Michael McDowell, but he believes there needs to be (literally) a count of every single village and city to attain the proper number of gardai required to police these areas.
Garda Representative Association (GRA) general secretary PJ Stone last night urged Mr McDowell to listen to such a "senior and respected" policeman.
Reiterating that creating a reserve force "will be more of a hindrance than a help", the GRA's general secretary said appointing a chief superintendent, superintendent and inspector to oversee it is a waste of resources and taxpayers money.
The GRA and the Association of Garda Sargents an Inspectors (AGSI) are on a collision course with Mr McDowell over his plans to introduce a 4,000 strong reserve force. They are bitterly oppose to the move.