Garda members have begun specialist pursuit training with a British police force and will begin training their colleagues in high-speed and dangerous pursuits by the end of the year. <\/p>\n
The Irish Times understands a number of Garda trainers have already been under instruction by specialists at Devon and Cornwall Police, which has a centre of excellence.<\/p>\n
The move will ensure frontline members driving patrol cars have the expertise to engage in the most complex and high-risk vehicle pursuits and, as a result, they will be sanctioned to undertake those operations. <\/p>\n
News the Garda has turned to a British police force to plug what has become a gaping skills shortfall comes after five teenagers in a BMW were killed in a wrong-way crash on the M9 in Co Kildare<\/a> last Sunday morning as they tried to evade garda\u00ed.<\/p>\n Even before Sunday\u2019s incident, the Garda had been coming under increasing pressure due to its apparent inability to intervene and stop suspects speeding on motorbikes and scramblers.<\/p>\n Many of those offending on the roads, mostly male teenagers, know if they travel the wrong way down a major roadway the garda\u00ed pursuing them will be ordered to back off by commanders back at base. <\/p>\n In reply to queries, Garda Headquarters said the training in Britain \u201chas been part of An Garda Siochana\u2019s plan to implement vehicle pursuit training for garda\u00ed\u201d.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the media regulator said on Tuesday that it has contacted TikTok<\/a> to determine how it is responding to footage of joyriding and dangerous driving posted on its platform, and whether it notifies An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na about this kind of content.<\/p>\n Videos showing car robberies and illegal driving have been widely shared on social media platforms over a number of years. However, the trend has come under increased scrutiny since the incident at the weekend in which a BMW was driven in the wrong direction on the M9 motorway near Moone and collided head-on with another car<\/a>.<\/p>\n The four people travelling in the second car \u2013 three sisters aged in their 20s and 30s and a child, who were travelling to Dublin Airport \u2013 were taken to hospital following the crash. Two of the women remained in a serious condition yesterday, while the third woman and the child were said to be in a serious condition.<\/p>\n TikTok yesterday defended its record in removing harmful content. It said it was \u201cclosely monitoring content\u201d related to the M9 incident and would remove videos and accounts that broke its rules. It said it removes content that glorifies violence or promotes crimes that could harm people.<\/p>\n