Gardai and residents meet to discuss policingMembers of ethnic minority communities met with An Garda Siochana at a cultural diversity forum in Killinarden Community Centre last week.
The evening of information exchange, sponsored by the Social Inclusion Unit of South Dublin County Council – with the theme of ‘Understanding Cultural Diversity and the Way Forward’ – included talks from gardai about various aspects of policing.
Sgt Goretti Sheridan of Tallaght Garda Station explained to Metro Eireann: “For some people here it is their first time to meet and talk with the gardai and it has been helpful for us to make them more aware of what we do.
“We want to assure people that if they have problems they can ring us. I can imagine that after an event like this we will see more calls. A lot of the immigrant community come here from countries where the police may not be as involved with the community and we want to show them that things are done differently here.”
Sgt Sheridan admitted that some of the worst problems facing some immigrant families in Tallaght are the anti-social behaviour incidents. “There are also incidents of racist comments. If we get to hear about these and they get reported to us then we do have the possibility to prosecute under the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act.”
Another aspect of working with the immigrant communities was discussed by Inspector Pat Edgeworth: “We want to let immigrant communities know that we police by consent. We want to encourage these communities to come along and report issues.
“We want to get the message across that a complaint must be made to us to get the ball rolling.
“In intimidating circumstances it becomes more difficult. Retaliation becomes an issue but this is irrespective of whoever is living in the area whether they are Irish and living here for years or whether they are just arrived here. We would encourage people to report incidents to us.”
Event organiser Yemisi Ojo of the Integration of African Children in Ireland Network told Metro Eireann: “It is a good opportunity for different cultures to be able to associate with members of the gardai and to let them know of certain cultural differences within the community.”
She explained that the participants at the forum were quite representative of the Tallaght community. “We have residents here who are originally from India, Nigeria, Congo, the Irish Traveller community and settled too,” she said.
Ojo feels that one of the biggest causes of friction between gardai and ethnic minority communities is a lack of cultural awareness.
“For instance in the African communities, if you look down while talking to a garda then they think you are lying, but to us that is a sign of respect; children can have this problem with teachers, too.”
