Two years after they were first announced, Local Community Safety Plan (LCSP) initiatives are being launched throughout rural Ireland, as communities are encouraged to have their say in how to enhance public safety.

Developed by Local Community Safety Partnerships, under the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024, the safety plans are currently out for public consultation in a number of counties across the country.

The LCSP replaces the old Joint Policing Committees (JPC) which were overseen by local authorities in conjunction with An Garda Síochána and had limited engagement with the public. The new entities are made up of community and voluntary group representatives, residents, county councillors, An Garda Síochána, the HSE and Tusla in what the new legislation aims to deliver more of a focus on the concerns identified and prioritised by local people.

Offaly is one of the LCSPs to have launched its community survey in recent weeks, where people are asked to make their opinions known before 20 September.

Molly Buckley, community activist and vice chair of the partnership, says the survey is an opportunity for people to raise the issues and concerns that matter to them when it comes to community safety.

“This survey is a vital tool for us to understand what people in our community experience daily as they go about their business,” she says.

“Whether their concerns relate to street lighting, road safety, anti-social behaviour or domestic violence, we need everyone’s input to help us build a safer, more resilient environment for everyone. Inclusive societies thrive when every individual has the power to shape their community, so it is of utmost importance that all sectors of our society, young and old, urban and rural based and members of minority groups and communities engage with this process.”

Perception of crime

Cllr Eddie Fitzpatrick who chairs the Offaly Local Community Safety Partnerships (LSCP), believes the new model has huge potential for restoring confidence in community safety in rural parts of the country.

“This move beyond traditional policing to a more holistic approach ensures local voices guide local solutions,” he explains.

“Policing and crime prevention is not just the responsibility of An Garda Síochána, we all have a part to play and our community is at its strongest when residents have an input into the decision-making process.

“The LCSP framework allows for a safety issue to be tackled simultaneously through the various agencies responsible and when multiple agencies collaborate, they can solve the root causes of a problem rather than just managing the symptoms.”

In the north west, Sligo Local Community Safety Partnership is made of 28 representatives, led by chair Cllr Marie Casserly.

“The bottom-up approach of this new initiative, where community safety is everyone’s responsibility and not just the Gardaí, is what will make it a success, “she believes.

“The Gardaí can’t be everywhere so having all these agencies and community groups involved, makes it a much more inclusive affair. There are 28 members on the partnership here in Sligo so we have great representation across the county.

“Many of the old Joint Policing Committee meetings were only interested in highlighting what was wrong, instead of coming up with solutions and while it was invaluable having regular meetings with An Garda Síochana to update us on crime statistics, there was little to no engagement from the public.”

Marie believes that by listening to people’s experiences, and offering them support and solutions, will deliver greater buy in from the public which will in turn help the partnerships to succeed.

“We need to find out what people’s perception of crime is. You can have two people living on the same street and one may feel safer than the other. Rural crime, thankfully is coming down but statistics are only one side of this. We need to find out how people feel and address the concerns they have where possible.

Policing and crime prevention is not just the responsibility of An Garda Síochána, we all have a part to play and our community is at its strongest when residents have an input into the decision-making process

“In my 12 years as a county councillor I’ve never come across a structure like this that is relevant to and covers the entire county.

Sligo LCSP has been getting out and about in a bid to spread the message of how crucial it is for communities to engage with the initiative.

“We had a stand at the Sligo Agricultural Show last month which offered a wonderful chance to chat with people and explain what this is all about,” adds Marie.

“It is much easier to encourage someone to share their opinions when you’re meeting them face-to-face, and while our survey is online, we are also welcoming any form of communication that people feel comfortable with when raising matters of concern.

“We’ve had 130 responses to our survey already and we have a number of information sessions planned for around the county. This isn’t a box ticking exercise, we want to hear people’s views. The good and the bad, so we can learn from both and identify the gaps in services and supports and try to address both.

“It has taken time to get to this point, we held our first meeting last December, but we had to take that time to get things right and to ensure the best possible chance of people engaging with us and not writing it off as another talking shop.

“This is community development in a nutshell, it’s about asking people to buy in to something that with their input can make a difference and I’m hopeful it will work.”

In Kerry, the Local Community Safety Partnership team are happy to have launched its safety plan but says a lot of work is yet to be done to deliver safer communities.

Preventative not reactive

Fianna Fáil Cllr Niall Kelleher says the feedback from the consultation process will feed into the first ever community safety plan.

“This new model is preventative rather than reactive which is what the old Joint Policing Committee offered, which the public didn’t engage with,” he says.

“I was chair of the Kerry JPC for 10 years so I know how it worked, where councillors were presented with crime statistics by An Garda Síochána and one public meeting was held every year, where attendance from the public was very poor.

“We launched the Kerry Community Safety Partnership 10 days ago and already we are getting good solid responses from the public as this model is completely different in that there are consultation and collaboration ongoing across all sectors from An Garda Síochána to Community Alert schemes and the HSE. We’re reaching as wide an audience as possible.

“Safety is often a feeling and it’s no use reacting to a spate of burglaries in having a room full of people at a meeting, and then no one turning up when crime rates are low. We have to have a proper balance and we need to build connectedness across communities.

“We have a lot of work to do over the next three years, there are parts of the county that aren’t covered by a community alert scheme. We also need to roll out initiatives that have been in many other counties but haven’t reached us yet, such as property marking and the senior alarms scheme, and I’m also a big fan of community CCTV, so we have to look into that.”

Further information on Local Community Safety Partnerships are available on your local authority website.

Kerry

Thursday 13 August, Tralee Library, 4pm to 6pm

Thursday 20 August, Caherciveen Library, 11am to 1pm

Thursday 27 August, Killarney Library, 4pm to 6pm

Tuesday 1 September, Ballybunion Library, 11am to 1pm

Thursday 3 September, Castleisland Library, 11am to 1pm

OFFALY

Wednesday 19 August, Tullamore Library, 5pm to 7pm

Thursday 27 August, Daingean Library, 11am to 1pm

Thursday 27 August, Ferbane Heritage Centre, 5pm to 7pm

Wednesday 2 September, Clara Family Resource Centre, 2pm to 4pm

Thursday 17 September, Edenderry Municipal District Offices, 2pm to 4pm

SLIGO

Monday 17 August, Grange Community Hall, 5pm to 7

Tuesday 18 August, Sligo Library, 11am to 1pm

Wednesday 19 August, Teeling Centre, 5pm to 7pm

Wednesday 26 August, Carnmore Co-op, 5pm to 7pm

Thursday 28 August, Sligo town northside, 5pm to 7pm