More sex and hate crimes reported, garda figures show
Recorded assaults have increased significantly and detection rates for them have fallen, garda figures show.
Recorded sexual crimes, domestic abuse, and hate crimes have also jumped — but gardaí said this was a “desirable correction” given potential underreporting in the past and said the rise was in line with their targets.
As with assaults, the sharp rise in recorded sexual offences is parallelled by a significant drop in the detection of these crimes.
The Garda Annual Report 2017 underlines the scale of activity against organised crime, with €75m worth of drugs and €3.5m of cash seized as well as 26 assassination attempts thwarted.
A total of 517 firearms have been seized (compared to 456 in 2016), including 56 pistols, 31 revolvers, nine submachine guns, three assault rifles, and nine silencers.
Some 980 armed hybrid checkpoints (mainly targeting the Kinahan-Hutch feud) were conducted, on average, per month in Dublin in 2017.
In addition, 61 hostage, barricade, and suicide incidents were responded to by specialist negotiators and armed units — all of which were resolved successfully.
The report shows:
- A 13% rise in recorded assaults from 16,269 in 2016 to 18,459 in 2017, and a 32% jump on 2013 (13,998 assaults);
- Detection rates for assaults have declined from 61% of cases in 2013 to 52% in 2016, dropping to 44% in 2017;
- A 20% rise in recorded sexual crimes from 2,548 in 2016 to 3,066 in 2017, and a 52% hike on 2013 (2,015);
- Detection rates for sexual crimes have dropped from 57% of cases in 2013 to 40% in 2016, falling to 33% in 2017;
- A 16% rise in recorded domestic abuse incidents, from 7,860 in 2016 to 9,145 in 2017, and a 56% jump on 2013 (5,864);
- An 11% increase in recorded hate crimes, from 290 to 323, and a 188% hike on 2013 (112).
Considerable concern has been expressed in different quarters at the reliability of statistics, including in relation to sexual crimes, domestic violence, and hate crimes, and that they had been underreported.
The report said recorded incidents of burglary and robbery rose slightly in 2017, despite targets to reduce their prevalence and that detection of the crimes fell slightly last year.
In his foreword, departing acting commissioner Dónall Ó Cualáin said Operation Thor, which was launched in November 2015 to target travelling gangs, had “saved thousands of people from the trauma of suffering a burglary”.
The report documents the work against gangs, including by the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.
During 2017, the DOCB was involved in 26 ‘threats to life’ operations, preventing attempted assassinations, many of them linked to the Kinahan-Hutch feud. Seven people were charged with conspiracy to murder.
The bureau was involved in the seizure of €75m worth of drugs, up from €29m in 2016, and the seizure of 29 firearms and 1,900 rounds of ammunition.
The report said that 28 members were on suspension at the end of the year.
