roisinlikesbooks:liamgalgey:downinthestyxx:Irish police vs American police Something is wrong here.T
roisinlikesbooks:liamgalgey:downinthestyxx:Irish police vs American police Something is wrong here.The different philosophies of the two are incredible. For example, American police (and indeed, most police worldwide) are law enforcement officers. Ireland does not actually have a police force. We have An Garda Síochána, which literally translates as ‘Guardians of the Peace’. The Guards in Ireland don’t carry firearms of any kind and it is incredibly rare that any lethal force is used by Guards or a Guard is killed.I’ve often thought about this and I think I know why we have this sort of service. Ireland has centuries worth of history of oppression. Ireland knows exactly what it’s like when a state-sanctioned group is prejudiced against the majority of the population and carries firearms. Ireland knows exactly how quickly that sort of situation turns to shit. And that’s why the Guards don’t enforce the law, they guard the peace, and they do that by being inherently peaceful and not carrying guns. Important to note that one of the reasons the Guards wouldn’t carry fire arms is that there was basically an honour code saying it was SHAMEFUL TO FIRE ON AN UNARMED MAN. -- source link