More gardaí for Laois
By Ryan Dunne [email protected]@laoisnews
Garda numbers in Laois are creeping back up following several years of straitened law enforcement resources in the county.
At this week’s Joint Policing Committee meeting in County Hall, Superintendent Joe Prendergast revealed that there are now 125 gardaí across the 12 different garda stations in Laois, which is up at least ten from what he described as “our lowest point two years ago”.
He said that it is the highest priority to get as many gardaí as possible out on the beat, and promised that five extra gardaí would be in Portlaoise by the end of 2016. He also said that there are plans to increase this number.
This is welcome news for the county, which suffered the closure of a number of garda stations in recent years as well as the withdrawal of a 24-hour station in Abbeyleix.