Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences increased by 44% in the northwest in the final quarter (Q4) of 2023 when compared to the same period in the previous year, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The data shows that there was a 26% increase in the number of these type of incidents across all regions in the year up to Q4 2023, mainly driven by a rise in blackmail or extortion from the person offences.
The northwest region also recorded the largest increase in theft and related offences in the period at 22%.
Overall, the CSO said that criminal incidents that involved theft and related offences were up by 12%, with a total of 74,144 incidents over the full year.
Nearly half (46%) of this increase was due to a growing number of incidents of thefts from shops.
Incidents of homicide and related offences were down by 19% from 80 to 65 over the same period, due mostly to a fall in incidents of murder.
The CSO said that recorded incidents of sexual offences were down 11% to 3,354 incidents.
Public order and other social code offences were down by 8% across the country compared with Q4 2022. The largest decrease (10%) was recorded in the northwest.
Commenting on the data, Jim Dalton, statistician in the crime and criminal justice section of the CSO, said:
“The number of recorded incidents of burglary and related offences fell from 16,750 in 2019 to 10,884 in 2020 and then to 8,584 such incidents in 2021 which coincided with COVID-19 public health restrictions in place at the time.
“As restrictions were lifted, the number of incidents then rose to 9,465 in 2022. In 2023, there were 9,545 incidents but this was 43% less than the levels recorded in 2019.”
“The number of incidents of fraud, deception and related offences in 2023 at 11,292 was 43% more than the 7,921 incidents in 2019.
“The number of recorded crime incidents for this category more than doubled to a high of 17,124 in 2021 before falling to back to 11,689 in 2022,” Dalton added.
Robbery
An Garda Síochána recently took to social media to give simple but effective tips to prevent burglaries at your property.
The tips for a safe home are as follows:
- Keep gates to your property closed/locked;
- Ensure that your doors and windows are locked/secured especially when your home is going to be unoccupied;
- Turn on lights, use timer switches and use an alarm to deter burglars;
- Do not keep large amounts of cash at home and consider using a certified safe if you have expensive jewellery;
- Record details of any valuables;
- Smart home security devices such as video doorbells are a great tool for protecting your property when you are not around;
- Report all suspicious activity in your area to gardaí immediately.