Local Community Safety Partnership
The Local Community Safety Partnership unites government, statutory services, voluntary sector, local councillors, and community members to address local community safety issues.
Objectives of the local Community Safety Partnerships
The partnership approach is built on two premises:
1. Every community is different and has different problems and issues.
2. Responding to those problems and issues requires a range of inputs from across Government, local services, voluntary sector and the community itself.
The response to the issues identified above requires the following elements:
1. Community engagement in identifying what the needs of the community are;
2. Commitment and buy-in from State, local and voluntary service providers to work
together to address those needs.
Cork City Local Community Safety Partnership
The Cork City Local Community Safety Partnership will be established in April 2025 following the commencement of the Policing, Security and Community Policing Act on Wednesday 2nd April 2025 (see info below on the Act). Information on LCSP membership, meetings, actions, etc. will be published here as soon as the regulations are issued and the LCSP is officially set up and members instated.
Contact the Cork City Local Safety Partnership Office:
Call: 0214 904000
What is Community Safety?
The concept of community safety is about people being safe and feeling safe in their own community. At the heart of this policy is the principle that every community has the right to be and feel safe in order to thrive and flourish.
Ireland is generally regarded as a safe country in international terms, with relatively low crime rates and a general feeling of safety and security. However, we recognise that this is not the case in every community and that people living in disadvantaged areas can experience a different reality.
The new community safety policy will ensure communities are safer and feel safer by making community safety a whole of Government responsibility and priority, to be delivered through Local Community Safety Partnerships (LCSPs), supported through a national governance structure.
This structure will ensure that communities are empowered to have a strong say in what actions are prioritised by the services operating in their area, and will also have a key oversight role in ensuring those actions are followed through.
Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024
Following over a year of consultation and deliberation, the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland (CoFPI) published its Report in 2018 outlining a vision and roadmap to strengthen An Garda Síochána and the broader national framework for policing, security and community safety. The Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024 underpins and implements its key recommendations. It was commenced on Wednesday 2nd April 2025.
The Act introduces:
• a new Policing and Community Safety Authority (replacing the existing Policing Authority and Garda Síochána Inspectorate);
• the restructuring of GSOC to Fiosrú – the Office of the Police Ombudsman;
• a new Garda Board;
• a new Office of the Independent Examiner of Security Legislation; and
• a new National Office for Community Safety.
The National Office for Community Safety will lead the rollout of the Government’s new strategy for improving community safety and will work closely with the Local Community Safety Partnerships being established.
Find out more: Department of Justice
Joint Policing Committees (JPCs)
Joint Policing Committees (JPCs) ceased to exist with the commencement of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act on Wednesday 2nd April 2025, when they were replaced by Local Community Safety Partnerships. When they were active, they provided a dedicated forum to support consultation, cooperation and synergy on policing and crime issues between An Garda Síochána, local authority officials, and elected representatives and the community and voluntary sectors via the PPN.
The role and function of the City Joint Policing Committee was to:
- Serve as a forum for consultation and discussion on matters of crime and policing within the Local Authority administrative area
- Review levels, patterns of crime and any underlying factors
- Establish/coordinate Local Policing Fora
- Meet on a quarterly basis
- Hold an annual public meeting
The statutory basis for the establishment of Joint Policing Committees is set out in section 35 of An Garda Síochána Act 2005, with revised guidelines for the operation of each JPC amended in 2014. The Policing Authority, established under the Garda Síochána (Policing Authority & Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015, hold general powers relating to the establishment and maintenance of the Joint Policing Committees by local authorities and the Garda Commissioner, which were previously held by the Dept. of Justice and Equality.
Membership of Joint Policing Committee
Each of the partners involved in JPCs has its own distinct perspective and inputs to offer, along with its own responsibilities in ensuring that society’s needs are effectively met to maintain safe and secure communities.
Each JPC was made up of:
(i) Chairperson – Local Authority representative,
(ii) Garda Officers nominated by Commissioner,
(iii) Local Authority representatives,
(iv) Members of Council and Oireachteas for the area,
(v) Public Participation Network (PPN) representatives.
JPC Strategic Plan 2016 - 2021
In 2016, the Cork City Joint Policing Committee launched a six-year strategy aiming to enhance relationships between the Local Authority, An Garda Síochána and the community, strengthening ties between the groups.
The strategy is the direct result of more than 12 months of consultation and sets out an overall strategy until 2021. It establishes a clear format of communication between the Local Authority, communities and the gardaí, including regular local forums to raise issues.
It includes a series of measurable goals, with specific aims reviewed on an annual basis. Speaking ahead of the launch, chief executive of Cork City Council, Ann Doherty, said: “The strategy will provide a framework for the work of the JPC and underpins the strong working relationship that exists between the City Council and An Garda Síochána at all levels.”
JPC 6 Year Strategic Plan 2016 2021
Minutes of the JPC Meetings can be found below: