Gardaí ‘solving fewer crimes’

THERE was a drop in the levels of serious crime last year, but figures released yesterday also showed that the percentage of crimes solved by gardaí dropped.

While most forms of less serious crime decreased, there was a large increase in quantities of drugs seized, speeding offences and explosive finds.

The Garda Annual Report 2003 found that:

Headline (or serious) crime fell by 3% in 2003, from 106,415 in 2002 to 103,360.

Non-headline (or less serious) crime dropped 14%, from 340,356 to 292,279.

Headline detection rates fell from 39% in 2002 to 36% in 2003.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell said he particularly welcomed falls of 13% in murders, 22% in assaults causing harm and 22% in sexual offences.

Despite the overall fall in crime, he said he was bringing in further garda powers.

Limerick was the only garda division to record a rise in homicide offences, from 30 to 38.

Theft was the only one of the ten headline categories to record a rise. This was partly due to an increase in incidents of thefts from the person, mainly mobile-phone larcenies.

Other crimes that increased last year were counterfeiting, possession of explosives and burglaries.

The report also notes a continuing fall in the number of serious crimes solved. Detection rates fell from:

84% to 72% in relation to homicides;

75% to 67% for assaults;

69% to 61% for sex offences.

Of the seven garda regions, serious crime rates fell in the Dublin, Southern and Western regions; remained unchanged in the Eastern region and increased in the Northern and South Eastern regions.

Mr McDowell welcomed significant decreases in non-headline offences, including minor assaults (down 23%); public order (4%); stolen cars (28%) and dangerous driving (20%).

One significant increase was in relation to speeding offences, which jumped from 2,602 to 2,977. There was also a 73% increase in people prosecuted for begging, from 508 to 881.

The report found that while the number of drug offences dropped by 9%, the actual quantities of drugs seized rose significantly.

More than 1.2 million ecstasy tablets were seized, compared with 117,000 in 2002. The quantity of cocaine seized more than trebled to 107 kilos. Cocaine was one of the few drugs for which prosecutions actually rose, from 478 to 607.

While firearms offences dropped there was a rise in the seizure of firearms. However, figures released earlier this week showed that shootings had risen by 40% in the first nine months of 2004.

Labour Party justice spokesman Joe Costello said thefts, assaults and firearms offences remained at “unacceptably high levels.”

Dr Ian O’Donnell of University College Dublin warned the garda figures were of “limited” value, as they excluded unreported crimes and reported crimes that went unrecorded.