County Roscommon remains a safe place to live and work

County Roscommon remains a safe place to live and work, a JPC public meeting was assured last week.

Chairman of the JPC, Cllr Tom Crosby said we were fortunate that crime levels were relatively low in the county.

“The role of the Gardaí is vital and it is important that we work closely with them to help them carry out that role effectively,” he said.

“The idea of crime can be a frightening one for people but we need to be especially mindful of the more vulnerable members of our community especially older people, new people to the area or those living alone.

"I would appeal to everyone to make an effort to call in on elderly people in the locality from time to time to check on them but also to help them feel safer in their houses. The Gardaí are available if you have any concerns regarding your local area and you should always contact them with your concerns.” He thanked the people who attended the meeting, the JPC members, the Gardaí and Una Ní Chuinn of Roscommon County Council.

He also highlighted the need for people to be safe and be seen while out running, walking or cycling on the road, and noted that hi-vis vests were available for free at the meeting. The ‘Message in a Bottle’ initiative was also available at the meeting. The project allows medical and other information relating to any person who lives alone to be stored in one place. The 'bottle' is then stored in the fridge and readily available to the emergency services should they need to visit the home.

The Chief Superintendent of the Mayo-Roscommon-Longford Division, Ray McMahon, welcomed everyone to the meeting.

“There has been a lot of change, internally within An Garda Siochána. We have a fantastic relationship with the public in Roscommon and it’s very important that we keep that,” he said.

These changes include that a single superintendent has responsibility for the whole of County Roscommon, John Fitzgerald, assisted by three inspectors.

“We now have superintendents taking charge of roles and functions. We have a detective superintendent in Castlerea for the whole division,” he outlined.

There is also a governance and performance assurance superintendent, Deirdre Gill, who is based in County Roscommon. There were also changes to the Garda control and dispatch systems and rosters.

“It’s a different way of us doing our business, we have a lot of specialist unit set up, such as domestic violence and sexual assault units, and drugs units. They are specialised to allow the Gardaí in the community to help people in the community and to be more accessible,” he said.

In terms of recruitment, he said he would like a lot more Gardaí out on the street.

“I would hope that any of the manpower problems that we had would be addressed in the coming year. And the quicker the better as far as I am concerned.”