Catherine Murphy
Question:
278. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí by rank in each divisional burglary response unit in 2017 and to date in 2018, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53298/18]
View answer
As the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of personnel and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter. Garda management keeps this distribution under review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities to ensure optimum use is made of the resources.
I have asked the Garda Commissioner for the specific information requested and when it is received I will write directly to the Deputy.
The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 42A
I refer to your Parliamentary Question No 278 for answer on Tuesday, 18 December 2018. At the time I responded that I would request the information sought by the Deputy from the Garda Commissioner and that I would write directly to her on receipt of same.
As the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of personnel and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter. Garda management keeps this distribution under review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities to ensure optimum use is made of the resources.
I am informed by the Commissioner that each Regional Assistant Commissioner is responsible for the oversight of burglary operations within their respective areas of responsibility and for ensuring the effective implementation of initiatives to tackle this type of crime.
I am further informed by the Garda Commissioner that Divisional Garda management is responsible for putting appropriate measures in place to tackle, prevent and detect criminal activity. This includes putting in place Divisional Burglary Response Teams as required, in response to crime trends indicating an increase in burglaries, so as to facilitate the implementation of an appropriate tactical Garda response.
An Garda Síochána works closely with communities to address issues at the community level. This includes crime prevention initiatives and community alert committees.
Operation THOR, a Garda National Anti-Burglary Strategy, was launched by the Garda Commissioner on the 2nd of November 2015. The operation was developed following an analysis of national burglary trends and patterns. The aim of the operation is to have a particular focus on identifying and targeting individuals involved in the commission of burglary and related crime as well as on preventing burglary crimes from occurring.
Since the beginning of Operation Thor in 2015 up to 15 January 2019, there have been 9,290 arrests, 10,662 charges, 34,720 searches, 273,355 patrols, 177,488 checkpoints and 97,480 intelligence reports.
I hope that this information is of assistance.
