Crime Levels.

Wednesday, 22 June 2005

Questions (231)

Denis Naughten

Question:

243 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will provide crime statistics for County Leitrim, by Garda district and by station; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21479/05]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. McDowell)

With regard to crime figures, the Deputy will be aware that on becoming Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, I arranged for the first time in the history of the State for the publication of headline crime statistics on a quarterly basis in order to improve the quality of information available to the public. While caution should be exercised in interpreting levels of crime between quarters, I am pleased to note that during my term of office as Minister, the quarterly crime rate has decreased from 6.7 per 1,000 population to 6 per 1,000 over the longer period of 11 quarters for which figures are available. This trend is reflected throughout most Garda districts in the country. In interpreting these figures, account has also to be taken of the introduction of the new PULSE computer system by the Garda Síochána in 1999, which led to more complete and comprehensive recording of crimes reported than was previously the case. The Deputy will also wish to be aware that, taking into account the significant increase in our population since 1995, the headline crime rate has fallen from 29 per 1,000 population in 1995 to 25 per 1,000 population in 2004.

The following tables show the headline offences, for the years 2000 to 2004, inclusive, by Garda district in the Sligo-Leitrim division.

Headline Offences Recorded and Detected for Sligo Garda District from 2000 to 2004*.

Year	2004*	2003	2002	2001	2000
	Rec	Det	Rec	Det	Rec	Det	Rec	Det	Rec	Det
Homicide	1	1	1	1	3	3	0	0	0	0
Assault	39	28	56	37	82	60	30	23	12	9
Sexual offences	26	11	43	34	25	14	9	4	11	11
Arson	58	1	70	12	43	2	33	7	15	0
Drugs	19	19	27	27	28	27	20	20	36	36
Thefts	563	175	665	235	577	176	426	180	428	236
Burglary	224	48	282	87	217	34	305	77	267	83
Robbery	17	9	10	6	5	4	9	4	6	4
Fraud	58	40	45	12	31	13	35	24	37	33
Other	10	4	11	5	12	11	4	3	2	2
Total	1,015	336	1,210	456	1,023	344	871	342	814	414

*Statistics for 2004 are provisional/operational and liable to change.

Headline Offences Recorded and Detected for Carrick-on-shannon Garda District from 2000 to 2004*.

Year	2004*	2003	2002	2001	2000
	Rec	Det	Rec	Det	Rec	Det	Rec	Det	Rec	Det
Homicide	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Assault	22	15	15	7	21	15	7	6	5	4
Sexual Offences	3	2	2	1	2	1	4	2	1	1
Arson	5	0	1	0	3	3	5	4	5	3
Drugs	6	6	3	3	3	3	1	1	1	1
Thefts	118	26	100	16	100	15	47	9	51	8
Burglary	57	11	73	9	46	4	50	7	56	14
Robbery	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Fraud	12	6	9	4	7	3	13	8	5	3
Other	5	3	5	2	2	2	3	2	0	0
Total	229	69	209	43	184	46	130	39	125	35

*Statistics for 2004 are provisional/operational and liable to change.

Headline Offences Recorded and Detected for Manorhamilton Garda District from 2000 to 2004*.

Year	2004*	2003	2002	2001	2000
	Rec	Det	Rec	Det	Rec	Det	Rec	Det	Rec	Det
Homicide	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Assault	8	4	5	5	11	8	8	7	4	2
Sexual Offences	5	2	3	3	4	4	2	1	2	2
Arson	1	0	4	2	0	0	2	2	0	0
Drugs	2	2	6	6	1	1	2	2	1	1
Thefts	66	8	85	10	60	9	27	2	30	6
Burglary	19	3	22	2	23	1	16	4	28	8
Robbery	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Fraud	1	1	4	1	4	4	8	6	2	0
Other	23	2	22	13	9	8	2	1	1	1
Total	125	22	151	42	112	35	67	25	68	20

*Statistics for 2004 are provisional/operational and liable to change.

Headline Offences Recorded and Detected for Ballymote Garda District from 2000 to 2004*.

Year	2004*	2003	2002	2001	2000
	Rec	Det	Rec	Det	Rec	Det	Rec	Det	Rec	Det
Homicide	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Assault	3	3	2	2	7	7	3	3	3	3
Sexual Offences	1	0	3	2	6	6	3	1	2	1
Arson	3	0	1	0	1	0	3	2	2	2
Drugs	0	0	1	1	3	3	0	0	0	0
Thefts	37	2	50	9	55	11	47	17	38	10
Burglary	26	4	24	2	34	4	48	12	43	13
Robbery	2	1	1	0	2	1	1	1	1	1
Fraud	3	1	4	2	14	13	3	2	11	6
Other	6	5	3	0	0	0	2	2	0	0
Total	81	16	89	18	122	45	110	40	100	36

*Statistics for 2004 are provisional/operational and liable to change.