Garda Commissioner: No evidence of 'massaging' crime stats
Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan has challenged rank-and-file officers to prove allegations that official crime figures are being massaged.
The Commissioner called for evidence of offences going unrecorded to be handed over amid claims from John Parker, president of the Garda Representative Association (GRA), that new classifications are distorting reality.
A spokesman for Mr Callinan said: “The Commissioner has no information or evidence of the allegations being spoken about.
“Accordingly, the Garda Commissioner is now calling on Garda Parker to clarify his position and provide any information or evidence he has concerning this matter.
“The Garda Commissioner wishes to assure the public that all crimes reported to the gardaí will be fully and thoroughly investigated and, where possible, offenders will be brought to justice.”
A report on official reported and recorded crime statistics is due out mid-morning as the GRA conference gets under way in Westport, Co Mayo.
Mr Parker claimed last night that officers have been instructed over the past two years about new ways to classify offences.
He said that under the protocol, some crimes are being classed differently while others are going unrecorded because they are not backed up by statements.
Mr Parker said anecdotal evidence showed officers who would have traditionally reported a burglary, for instance, may now class it as criminal damage because nothing was stolen during a break-in.
“These days we often see where a window is broken, and it's obvious that there was entry gained but nothing was taken - a lot of these are put down as criminal damage,” he said.
“Crime categorisation itself is a skill,” he said.
“It is easy to massage statistics from one classification to another if all the boxes aren’t ticked.”
The GRA president, speaking ahead of the association’s annual conference, said crimes are not recorded where a person makes a verbal complaint but not a full statement.
Mr Parker said Garda management have instructed officers that without a signed statement of complaint, the alleged offence is not a crime.
