Reserve or volunteer support is a commonplace feature of modern policing in Europe, across the Atlantic and in the UK. The Garda Reserve was created under former justice minister Michael McDowell’s 2005 Garda Síochána Act. But the potential of a properly developed, trained and resourced Garda Reserve in combating rural crime could scarcely be overstated. If it works in rural France, rural England and small-town America, it should work here. But any first step has to be to get beyond the cliched vocabulary that has been built around rural crime and community policing and to be informed about what is being done elsewhere.

Source: The Irish Times April 04, 2019 00:11 UTC