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»»sex attacks & robberies are up as new statistics released »»But gardai make ‘significant progress’ with operation hybrid
SEXUAL offences and robbery reports shot up in the year to September, new statistics released yesterday reveal.
Attempted murder, assaults, harrassments and related offences also rose by 6.7% while homicide was down 19.3%.
Recorded Crime Q3 2018 is the fourth quarterly release following the decision to resume publication using the category of statistics under reservation.
This category was introduced to highlight concerns regarding the quality of underlying data from An Garda Siochana’s PULSE database.
The statistics show an increase in the number of recorded incidents across most crime groups.
Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan said: “An Garda Siochana continue to make significant progress in tackling organised crime, particularly in Dublin’s north inner city through Operation Hybrid.
“Gardai have had a number of successes with detections in relation to organised crime cases and have prevented over 50 murders since Operation Hybrid commenced.
“The rise in the recorded incidents of sexual assault, and particularly rape, continues to be an area of key focus for both Government and An
Garda Siochana.
“I would strongly encourage anyone who has been the victim of such attacks to please contact An Garda Siochana and report the incident as soon as possible.
“This Government remains committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and to deter crime.
“I am convinced the report provides the right vision for Ireland to maintain and enhance public trust in policing, to address current challenges and also enable An Garda Siochana to meet future challenges.”
The greatest rise was robbery which is up 22.7% and sexual offences which increased by 11.7%.