Significant increase in violent crimes, sexual offences, drug and fraud crimes last year, CSO figures show
Recorded violent crime, including sexual offences, as well as drug and fraud crimes saw significant increases in the last year.
But the Central Statistics Office data shows a significant reduction in homicide offences, including murders, while the number of reported burglaries also continued to fall.
The figures, covering the year to end of quarter two (June) 2019, are again being published by the CSO “under reservation”, reflecting continuing concerns the agency has about the quality of the underlying Garda data.
Of the 14 crime categories, 10 showed increases in incidents, two recorded reductions, while two others – theft and criminal damage - remained effectively unchanged.
In relation to violent crimes, the figures show a 9% rise in recorded sexual offences, a 7% increase in assaults, a 21% jump in kidnappings, a 7% rise in weapons offences and a 2% increase in robberies.
The CSO said the rise in sexual offences reflected a “year on year” increase in the category. Rape crisis agencies have previously said it was not clear if the ongoing rise was due to more crimes or greater reporting.
The increase in assaults generally has continued a recent trend and Garda HQ is finalising a national strategy to try and combat the problem.
The Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and Deputy Commissioner John Twomey were questioned on the rise in violent offences at the Policing Authority on Thursday.
Drug offences are up 16%, reflecting a rise in both supply offences (up 12%) and possession offences (up 17%).
Weapons offences have also increased (up 7%).
Fraud offences recorded a 34% jump, with some 7,265 reported offences to the year ending last June.
Homicide offences are down 40%, with the biggest decrease in deaths resulting from dangerous driving (down 64%) - but the CSO cautioned that this figure is “often revised upwards” as garda investigations conclude.
But the number of murders also dropped (by 20%), with a similar reduction in manslaughter offences.
Reported burglaries fell by 10%, again reflecting a continuing decrease since 2015.
