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LATEST | Gardaí arrested more than
500 people in Dublin last week after vow to crack down on street violence
Sylvia Omorodion
Today at
10:22Gardaí in the Dublin area have arrested more than
500 people in the last week as part of a crackdown on street violence in the wake of a number of high-profile attacks.
Justice Minister Helen McEntee recently announced new funding of up to
€10m specifically targeted at increasing Garda visibility in Dublin.
The force said in a statement this morning that gardaí on duty in the Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR) had made
509 arrests last week, with
89 of those for drug trafficking.
The figures covering July 28 to August 3 also showed gardaí on patrol in the DMR conducted
689 searches, with approximately
500 of those being under the Drugs Act.
There were
62 occasions on which a person was searched, while there were
36 searches of premises, vehicles and vessels without a warrant, and
87 searches with a warrant.
During this period,
1,538 patrols were carried out,
57 of which were part of Operation Citizen and
154 in Operation Saul. Operation Citizen is an ongoing operation to target anti-social behaviour, while Operation Saul deals with public transport specifically.
Gardaí in Dublin also mounted
196 road safety checkpoints.
Assistant Commissioner of the DMR Angela Willis said: "This amount and variety of operational activity in one week across the Dublin region shows the dedication of gardaí to actively work in communities to keep people safe. It reflects the work that is undertaken every week by Gardaí in Dublin.
“In the last week alone, this has seen significant amounts of drugs taken off the streets, lives protected on our roads, and enabled people and communities to enjoy a variety of events safely.”
Throughout last week, gardaí in the DMR made a number of drug seizures and arrests.
In
one instance,
three men were arrested by the gardaí in
three separate robbery incidents in the city, all of whom have been charged and appeared before the courts.
One male was charged with possession of drugs worth
€17,660 on August
2 in Parnell Street. Gardaí said that, on the same day, they responded to a burglary call in Dublin
8, in which a male had been disturbed and fled from the house. This man was later located. He was arrested and charged.
Other arrests made were on August
3 where members of the Ballymun drugs unit saw a male run from a car and into an apartment block.
The apartment block and car were observed for a period of time before it was searched. Gardaí stopped and arrest the man, who was in possession of
€61,200 worth of drugs.
1:28Today's News in
90 seconds - August
8thTwo other searches were made on the same day, one of which was conducted in the Donaghmede area that resulted in the seizure of combined drugs valued at
€39,400. One male was arrested and detained.
Gardaí obtained a warrant and searched an address in the Clondalkin area where a man was arrested for the possession of
€83,000 worth of cannabis, with approximately
€16,000 in cash seized.
Alongside these activities, gardaí also attended nine protests as well as several high-profile sporting events at venues around the region.
The
€10m funding allocated by Ms McEntee allowed immediately for
240,000 extra garda hours, or
20,000 extra garda shifts in Dublin.
It came after several recent attacks that led to criticism of policing in the city.
They included attacks on Stephen Termini
(57) from Buffalo, New York, who was seriously injured in an unprovoked assault on July 19. He is still in a serious condition in hospital amid fears he could lose an eye.
Three teenage boys are before the courts in relation to that assault.
Two weeks prior, Oleksandr Hrekov
(23) was attacked in Dublin city centre shortly after performing at the Abbey Theatre.
On increasing Garda visibility, the Justice Minister said at the time: “Dublin is a great city to live in, work in and visit and I am committed to increasing the number of Gardaí on our streets to ensure people feel safe, and to build stronger, safer communities.”
Isn't it a tad ironic that Stephen Termini should be assaulted near Busaras?
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