Policing

The Workers’ Party believes that police and policing must be subject to democratic control. The Workers’ Party is committed to exposing the use of the police to further vested private interests, assert state control and to stifle popular dissent. To that end the Workers’ Party demands the:

• Establishment of a powerful Police Authority with members drawn from all sections of society and with the power to appoint senior police officers and remove them.

• Strengthening and adequate funding of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission – ensuring no Gardaí or retired Gardaí are employed in investigations, expanding its power of investigation to cover the Garda Commissioner and access to all Garda records, including the Pulse computer system.

• Establishment of local police partnerships with membership including community activists and civic leaders with the power to call Gardaí to explain and, where appropriate, justify operations.

• The immediate removal of all Gardaí found to have been involved in systemic misconduct.

• The establishment of public inquiries into the policing of working class communities and to review current and historic relations between Gardaí and major illegal drug importers.