Flawed: How crucial records got it wrong
BY the end of October 2017, some 40 homicides were recorded for the year. However, the review found that seven of these didn’t actually happen in 2017. This would have resulted in inaccurate information being supplied to the CSO. At the same time there were five actual homicides which were recorded in ‘non-crime’ or ‘non-fatal crime’ incident types. Thirteen suspicious deaths were recorded as ‘non-crime’ even though an investigation was under way.
A NUMBER of fatal ‘Hit-and-Run’ traffic incidents in 2017 were all unidentifiable on the Garda Pulse system. These incidents were routinely recorded as a non-crime incident of ‘Traffic Collision Fatal’. This was despite a criminal investigation being under way. Up to the end of October last year, 18 ‘Dangerous Driving Causing Death’ incidents were recorded – but four didn’t occur in 2017 and one had been incorrectly invalidated.
AN assessment of one case found that an individual was being linked to a criminal offence that occurred more than a year after their death. It is not clear how this happened, but the recording of dates is a recurring issue identified as part of the review. In some instances, homicides have been registered on the Pulse system in the wrong year. This affects the overall statistics at the end of a year.
A NUMBER of deaths by homicide were recorded under the non-crime incident of ‘Person Misadventure: Sudden Death’. In one particular case, the deceased also had an ‘Assault Causing Harm Incident’ recorded seven weeks after the death, which was then invalidated, and a Minor Assault incident recorded more than a year after the death.
ANALYSTS found instances of ‘Death by Trauma’ being recorded under the noncrime incident of ‘Person Misadventure: Sudden Death’. In one case the death was not classified as ‘Homicide: Murder’ for four years. In another case, the death was initially recorded as a suicide, reclassified to a non-fatal category of ‘Assault Causing Harm’, and eventually reclassified to a homicide after two years.