The Justice Minister’s approach to stop and search powers for knife crime are “cynical” and “cheap”, a policing expert has said.
Last week, Jim O’Callaghan told the Dail that part of the response to knife crime has to be powers for gardai to “stop and search people so that they can seize knives from them if they suspect they are carrying knives”.
He added: “It is clear we need a strong, clear statutory basis in order for gardai to seize knives which we all admit are a dangerous threat to people in our community.”
Mr O’Callaghan’s comments came after widespread public concern in the aftermath of multiple serious assaults involving knives in Dublin earlier this month.
Gardai already have had the power to stop and search people for the possession of knives for years, under Section 16 of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act 1990.
Gardai already have powers to stop people on suspicion of possessing a knife (Niall Carson/PA)
Asked this week why new legislation was needed for powers that gardai already have, Mr O’Callaghan said: “We’re bringing forward legislation, the Garda Powers bill, that will codify all the powers that the Garda Siochana have.”
The Bill is designed to put all garda powers of search, arrest and detention into one accessible place.
It was first introduced to the Oireachtas in 2023 by Mr O’Callaghan’s predecessor, Helen McEntee, under the previous government.
The minister added: “It’s very important that people know the type of powers that they already have and that can be used against them.
“One section of that is going to be in respect to stop and search – and stop and search, in my opinion, is an important part of keeping people safe.”
However, an expert in criminology said the implication that gardai need new powers to search for knives is unfounded.
Dr Cian O Concubhair, assistant professor in criminal justice at Maynooth University’s Department of Law, said: “There are definitely issues with gardai not knowing the law and not knowing their powers but I would be very surprised if there was a single garda who did not know they were allowed to stop and search people they reasonably suspected of carrying an offensive weapon or firearm.
“It’s a basic power, they all know about it.”
Speaking to the PA news agency, he added: “I don’t think it’s going to make any material difference whatsoever to the gardai.”
Dr O Concubhair said it would be “cheap” to relegislate for stop and searches for weapons instead of addressing other causes of knife crime.
He further cautioned that the comments could be part of a new Government posture on crime.
“What will make a difference is a policy shift if the Government is saying they basically want gardai to be going out stopping and searching people at random,” he said.
“That will have a negative impact.”
For example, he said there is “no evidence whatsoever” that “blitzes on stop and search” led to a reduction on knife crime in London.
“That doesn’t mean politicians don’t love telling police to go out and do that and that would be my concern here,” he added.
“The mood music around stop and search is very pro. [Minister O’Callaghan] saying things like this is going to basically push the gardai to do even more.”
Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon (Niall Carson/PA)
Dr O Concubhair said he was extremely worried about a “cynical” move to a “penal populist era”.
“That is performing or pretending you’re being tough on crime rather than any appreciation for what might work in terms of improving security or safety,” he said.
Reports from other jurisdictions have found that ethnic minorities are often unfairly targeted by stop and search powers.
Dr O Concubhair warned: “It doesn’t work in terms of reducing crime but also it’s poisonous to police-community relations.”
He raised concerns that gardai were already misusing powers of stop and search, adding that he was critical of poor data collection on searches by gardai.
Earlier this week, Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon called on the Government to legislate for “fair” stop and search powers, involving independent oversight, data collection and monitoring to “prevent and respond to racial profiling”.
He said this would involve gathering data on ethnic identifiers, age, gender and justification for all those stopped.
In general, Dr O Concubhair said that he does not have a problem with the Garda Powers Bill as a concept but added that he had concerns about certain aspects of how it is currently drafted.
He said: “There’s an argument that from a policing perspective, it’s good to codify and have a single piece of legislation for all the powers.
“I don’t think that’s a problem when we’re talking about knives, other offensive weapons or guns.”
He added: “It’s cynical and it’s not clear this Bill is going to go anywhere – it didn’t go anywhere under the last government.”
Elsewhere, Dr O Concubhair said there are existing issues around garda search powers but stopping someone on suspicion of knife possession is not one of them.
For example, he said gardai outside of Dublin have “a genuine problem” if they wish to search someone when they believe a theft has occurred
This is because gardai in the capital have that power under legislation from the 19th century but “bizarrely” other gardai do not have the same option as the the 2001 Theft and Fraud Offences Act does not include search powers.
Dr O Concubhair, who specialises in policing and criminology, said barristers and solicitors have argued that gardai are instead misusing the Misuse of Drugs Act to search people on suspicion of theft offences.
“They need a search power and you basically cannot challenge search powers under the Misuse of Drugs Act,” he said.
“It is functionally impossible if someone smells cannabis, you cannot challenge that.”