The newly established Kildare Joint Policing Committee (JPC) will hold a meeting on Monday February 22 at 5pm in Aras Chill Dara, Naas. It is inviting locals to submit questions on crime to senior gardai and local politicians.
Traffic, vandalism,
anti-social behaviour, underage drinking, causal trading, litter, and community based crime prevention initiatives will all be on the agenda for discussion at the JPC meeting.
The county-wide committee is one of five JPC initiatives whereby gardai, politicians and local authority members, along with TDs and community groups, can come together to consult and make recommendations on crime issues facing Kildare communities.
Along with the pan-Kildare committee, local committees are being set up in Leixlip, Naas, Newbridge and Athy. Three key areas have been identified as targets for Kildare - these are crime, drugs and public order, and traffic and community engagement.
A website has also been launched to assist members of the public in making suggestions or submitting questions to the JPC. This can be accessed at www.kildarejointpolicing.ie. The Kildare JPC will meet four times per year, and locals who would like to submit questions or topics for discussion are asked to have them in at least ten days before the meeting.
Meanwhile, head shops, casinos and CCTV were just some of the issues raised at the first meeting of Newbridge Town Council's Joint Policing Committee, which was held on Monday night in the Keadeen hotel.
"There was a great turnout of representatives from the community, gardai and Newbridge Town Council," said Anne Greene of Newbridge Town Council.
"It was a real community effort with the gardai, politicians and general public coming together to discuss and address issues affecting Newbridge. Athy had the first Joint Policing Committee in 2005 and now we are rolling out the rest of the county. All the town councils will have committees. There was a short discussion on issues such as head shops, casinos and CCTV as well as anti-social behaviour."
Chair of the committee and Cllr Paddy Kennedy said everybody got their say.
"Inspector Kevin Lavelle of Newbridge Gardai alongside Sgt Seamus Rothwell were in attendance," he said. "It is very important in Newbridge that we know our remit on what we can discuss. And thankfully it is very broad. The gardai in Newbridge are very in tune with the town. Head Shops are causing concern at the moment."
The community representatives for the committee are Willie Crowley, Ger Aherne and Ger Murphy.
"This is a very good committee - a lot of good questions were asked," he added. "One thing we all agreed on was that there would be no political or personal agendas. We don't want this to turn into a talking shop.
