SEEING the faces of the smiling, good natured men whose lives were brutally taken away brings home the human loss.

THERE is one garda for every 322 people in the country, new figures show.

ONLY three out of ten gun murders over the last nine years have resulted in charges being brought before the courts, new figures show.

WHILE the Papazian case is notorious for his diary of how killed a man, the case also raises questions about how society can predict — and prevent — would-be serial killers.

Police in Sydney expect more violence over the weekend following the race riots that rocked southern beachside suburbs for two days this week, a state government minister said today.

The Government cannot tackle the problem of crime because it has no figures for the level of re-offending, it was claimed tonight.

MEMBERS of an expert group on crime statistics have clashed over findings on how to improve the compilation of crime figures by the gardaí.

THE range and variety of offences covered under child pornography legislation means that non-custodial sentences are often “the most appropriate”, a criminologist said yesterday.

MORE than half of public order offences are not prosecuted or recorded, according to research by the National Crime Council.

DUBLIN’S O’Connell Street is the most dangerous in the country, according to a report on public order offences to be published today.

If the homicide rate of last month continues on the graph it already is on, then this year could have the worst murder and manslaughter rate since garda records began.

By Cormac O’Keeffe

Criminal activity in the 1980s peaked, coinciding with the rise of the drugs menace, a new report on five decades of crime showed today.