Confidence in gardaí on the wane, shows survey
Public faith and confidence in the gardaí is continuing to fall, a new survey revealed today.
After drops in support in the late 1990s and 2003, the latest assessment found more people were sceptical about the work of the force than ever before.
According to a survey carried out by the Central Statistics Office only half of those asked think gardaí do a good job.
Some 20,000 households nationwide took part in the study last year.
Just over half of those asked rated the work of gardaí in the local area as good or very good.
This is a drop from 2003 when 56.4% felt the force was doing a good job – and that followed a drop in confidence from a high of 63.4% in 1998.
The proportion of people who rate the work of gardaí as very good has almost halved since 1998, down from 18.6% to 9.6%.
Tánaiste and Justice Minister Michael McDowell accepted there were grounds for concern.
“While the survey reveals some challenges for An Garda Siochana it is good to see that a majority of Irish people retain their faith in and support for the force,” the Tánaiste said.
“I have no doubt that faith in the gardaí will be reinforced by the wide range of fundamental reforms that I have introduced over the past few years.”
The Crime and Victimisation Survey showed problems over the reporting of offences.
Almost a third of burglaries are not reported with 36% saying they believed the gardaí could or would do nothing.
Only four in every ten vandal attacks on home were reported with 42.5% believing the gardaí could or would do nothing.
And with violent thefts, more than a third were not reported with 40% of victims convinced the gardaí could or would do nothing.
The study also showed young men, particularly those in Dublin, were most at risk from crime.
The CSO said 91,800 men suffered personal crimes last year compared to 58,900 females.
And 18% of Dublin households were affected by crime, compared to the national figure of 11.3%.
Even though the risk of being a victim of personal crime almost doubled between 1998 and 2006, feelings of safety in the home or in the neighbourhood have remained relatively stable.
About three quarters of people said that they would feel safe or very safe walking alone in the neighbourhood after dark.
But women feel less safe than men.
Four times as many women as men say they feel safe or very unsafe walking alone in their neighbourhood.
And fears are also high among older people with 45% of over 65s feeling unsafe or very unsafe in their area after dark.
