De Burca appointed as Chair of new Bray Joint Policing Committee
Green party councillor Deirdre de Burca was recently appointed as Chairperson of the new Bray Town Council Joint Policing Committee. Recent legislation introduced by the Government placed such committees on a statutory footing.
The legislation specifies that these committees should include councillors, officials, members of the Garda Siochana and representatives from local Chambers of Commerce. The media and members of the public are also entitled to attend the meetings of the Joint Policing Committees.
“The setting up of the Bray Joint Policing Committee is very timely” says de Burca. “As we are all aware, public concern about crime and anti-social behaviour has been growing over recent years, and has intensified greatly given the spate of gangland murders in urban areas such as Limerick and Dublin. These new committees will put a badly-needed structure in place where priority issues like vandalism, anti-social behaviour, drug-taking, graffiti and traffic can be addressed by local authorities in partnership with local Gardai”. De Burca says that TDs are also entitled to attend meeting of the Policing Committee.
She praised Superintendent Mick Lernihan for a presentation made at the first meeting of the Bray Joint Policing Committee on Garda activities in the Bray area over the past few years. “Committee members are very aware of the challenges facing us in this town in terms of crime and anti-social behaviour” she says. “The experience of other towns around the country shows that with proper structures in place, a serious reduction in crime and public disorder can happen”.
The Green Party councillor says that the next meeting of the Bray Policing Committee will take place in Bray Town Hall on Monday February 19th at 2pm. She has encouraged any members of the public who are interested in the issues of crime and anti-social behaviour in Bray to attend the meeting.
