Police chief points to success of anti-gang laws
Chief Supt David Sheahan told the County Limerick Joint Policing Committee (JPC) that gardaí would continue to use the new laws, having used them to good effect in recent weeks.
His comment was a reference to the arrests of nine people with links to the McCarthy Dundon gang who are still in custody, having been charged and remanded at Limerick District Court.
The new legislation, he said, would now be tested in the courts.
Chief Supt Sheahan said: “I am not going to tolerate criminality at that scale and I will do everything in my power to prevent high-level criminality in the city.”
Figures which he gave to the JPC showed a 21% drop in reported crime in the Limerick Garda Division for the first four months of 2010.
In that period 7,022 crimes were reported, compared to 8,856 for the first four months of 2009.
During the first quarter of 2009 there were four murders compared to one this year. The illegal discharging of firearms was down from 11 last year to 7 this year.
While burglaries declined from 490 to 410, thefts from the person rose from 50 to 61.
It is believed that the bad weather earlier in the year may have been a factor in the drop in burglaries as criminals were unable to move about due to severe ice on the roads.
Sexual offences for the first quarter remained almost the same – 35 this year, 33 in 200;, with serious assaults causing harm dropping from 56 to 47.
There were 187 minor assaults, one more than in the first quarter of 2009.
Drugs offences showed an increase from 335 to 386.
A breakdown of crime figures in the three County Limerick Garda districts showed Askeaton 431 crimes (524 last year), Newcastle West 518 (695), and Bruff showing an increase at 483 compared with 474 last year.
In his report to the JPC, Chief Supt Sheahan said five fatal accidents in the first quarter involved three single vehicle accidents and two pedestrians. He said serious injury traffic collisions were up considerably – 15 such incidents to end of April, compared with four recorded to end of April 2009.
His report stated: “Of the 15 serious injury incidents, and in the considered opinion of the investigating garda, one or other driver involved in each collision was responsible to a large extent due to factors which included intoxication, carelessness or inattention to other road users or their environment.”
Chief Supt Sheahan said there had been significant falls in recorded public order offences and incidents of anti-social behaviour – down from 1078 for the first quarter of 2009 to 876.
He said increased enforcement of the drunk law led to 108 arrests compared to 101 last year.
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