Irish Policing

This book examines the organisational culture of the Irish police service, speaking in particular to those interested in policing organisations and organisational culture. It is set against a backdrop of considerations such as community policing, police accountability, the management of change in Irish policing, and where the Irish police situates itself in relation to police organisations internationally. An Garda Síochána, the national police service of the Republic of Ireland, has a stated community policing style which focuses on an interactive relationship with the community and results in a largely unarmed policing organisation which makes it different to most police organisations. Yet, the author argues that the organisational culture has prevented them from embodying community policing across the organisation. Exploring the organisation’s historical context and how they are trained, this book draws on new research and data spanning 30 years including tribunals and reports to examine the organisational culture over time including potential misconduct, blame culture, and resistance to change within the organisation, in order to provide a more thorough understanding of a relatively unknown policing organisation. 

Courtney Marsh is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Criminology, Criminal Law and Social Law at Ghent University, Belgium. Her main area of research is police organisational culture which has extended into the areas of gender and policing and cross-cultural studies in policing. Prior to this, she used her secondary expertise in Engaged Learning as a lecturer at Trinity College Dublin.