Boston Crime Fighter Poised to Be New Garda Inspectorate's Chief

A top American policewoman is the leading candidate to become head of the new Garda Inspectorate - and take responsibility for the biggest shake-up in the force's history.

Boston police commissioner Kathleen O'Toole is regarded as one of the most successful managers of policing in the United States. She was one of the leading figures on Chris Patten's commission that changed the Royal Ulster Constabulary into the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

She confirmed yesterday that she had been contacted 'within the last six months' about becoming head of the Garda Inspectorate, a post due to be filled later this year.

The job has to be allocated to a senior police officer from outside the Republic of Ireland. The Garda Inspectorate will monitor how resources are managed and report directly to the Minister of Justice. Up to 20 per cent of jobs, including those of 500 garda officers, could be transferred to civilians.

O'Toole has overseen a sharp reduction in crime in her native Boston where the number of murders has fallen from 300 to little more than 30 a year. She made her reputation as a crime fighter on the force by posing as a civilian to entrap muggers on the city's subway system.

Now in her late forties, O'Toole has a daughter, Megan, who is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin. The family are keen golfers and O'Toole has organised joint Garda/US police tournaments for various charities across Ireland. If she takes up the post, she will earn an annual salary of more than €105,000.

O'Toole worked with former Boston police chief Bill Bratton, who later moved to New York and turned around the city's violent, crime-ridden reputation. It was during Bratton's term that the phrase 'zero tolerance' was born.

Senior government and Garda sources confirmed last night that O'Toole is the top candidate for the Garda Inspectorate job. However, her appointment has yet to be sanctioned by the Irish cabinet.

Another candidate mooted for the post is former RUC Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan, due to take up a post in Iraq reorganising the Baghdad police.