Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 25 April 2012
187 Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of burglaries reported to gardaí in the R district of the Dublin region for the years 2011 and to date in 2012; the number of persons arrested and charged to date; the number of successful convictions secured to date; the additional measures and resources gardaí in the district are taking to tackle same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20868/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am informed by the Garda authorities that the R District consists of the Garda Sub-Districts of Coolock, Swords and Malahide. I am further informed that crime trends nationally, including burglary, are being monitored closely by senior Garda management with appropriate intelligence led initiatives being put in place to target this type of criminality. The Deputy will be aware of the Commissioner's recent announcement concerning the introduction of a new operation, Operation Fiacla , aimed at tackling mobile gangs involved in burglaries around the country.
In addition to these measures, Operation Acer was established in March 2012 in response to the recent increase in burglaries in the Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR). The objective of this regional operation is to have a focused and integrated approach to criminals involved in committing burglaries by analysing specific target areas so that resources can be adequately deployed where necessary. This operation provides both a preventative and detection element and focuses on geographical areas and specific targets.
In combating burglaries in the R District, local Garda management has directed that regular patrols, Community Policing Units, Detective Units and Special Resource Units conduct checkpoints in areas of high incidents and in areas identified through analysis as vulnerable to this type of crime. In addition, enhanced case management has been introduced in relation to prolific offenders. This enables Gardaí to manage current charges before the Courts more effectively and to raise objections to bail on the grounds of re-offending, or on the basis of warrant history. Another valuable tool being utilised by An Garda Síochána is the Automatic Number Plate Recognition system (ANPR) present in Garda vehicles. This is being used to target suspect vehicles and routes used by criminals.
The ongoing work of Local Community Policing units allows Gardaí to visit and advise residents of the incidents of burglaries in their area, and to advise them of appropriate crime prevention strategies. In relation to the statistics requested by the Deputy. the Garda Síochána Act 2005 makes provision for the compilation and publication of crime statistics by the Central Statistics Office, as the national statistical agency, and the CSO has established a dedicated unit for this purpose. I have requested the CSO to provide relevant statistics directly to the Deputy.
