Burglaries down as gardaí crack down on list of serial offenders
SUPERINTENDENT PAT
WARD confirmed that theft and similar crimes are down significantly in the first few weeks of the year, compared to the same period last year.
He said that operations are ongoing all the time, sometimes with renewed focus on certain categories of crime.
It is understood that there were 41 burglaries across the county in the first two weeks of 2017, and 17 in the first two weeks of 2018.
Supt Ward, who is based in Bray, confirmed that within a new focus on theft crime and burglaries in particular in the Wicklow Division, a list of 50 offenders was drawn up for particular attention.
‘ There has been a revitalisation of Operation Thor to target certain criminals,’ said Supt Ward. ‘We’ve a target list of recidivist offenders and we police those offenders by various means, including strict enforcement of bail conditions.’
Of the 50, 22 of those are based in the Bray District and a number are under the age of 18. A 17-year-old boy is suspected of up to 50 incidents in two months. A 15-year-old girl is suspected of stealing from shops in Bray on three occasions.
Supt Ward said that there are strict procedures in place for juveniles, including establishing whether they would benefit from the juvenile diversion programme before they might come before the courts.
Supt Ward said that the measures taken have proven to be effective. He said that they have been working over time.
‘At the beginning of the year it was decided to renew focus on a targeted list to reduce the level of crime, which is much down on what it was for the same period last year. In the first three weeks of the year we are seeing a significant decrease in theft of property.’