Impact of Covid-19 pandemic revealed in latest crime statistics

Burglaries were down by more than 20 per cent in the first three-quarters of this year due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Figures from the Central Statistics Office show the pandemic has affected nearly every area of crime so far this year, with the largest changes occurring in the area of property crime.

While there were significant drops in day-to-day crimes such as theft, some categories of serious offending had large increases.

There were 74 homicide offences recorded up to the end of September, up five on last year. These included 37 suspected murders, four suspected manslaughters and 33 incidents of dangerous driving causing death. Incidents of false imprisonment increased by 32 per cent to 115.

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There were 16,556 burglaries and related offences in the first three-quarters of the year, down 3,385 on last year. This is most likely down to people spending more time at home during the lockdowns.

Theft offences were down almost 18 per cent, likely the result business closures during the pandemic, while robbery and related offences were down 12 per cent.

Sexual assaults were also down 12 per cent which Garda sources attributed, in part, to pubs and other night-time venues being closed for much of the year. However, they warned that the true extent of sexual assault during the pandemic may not become apparent for some time as, by nature, it is an offence that occurs in secret.

Criminal damage and public order offences were down 9.4 and 7.7 per cent respectively.

One of the few crime categories to increase was drugs and weapon possession.

Weapons and explosives

There were 22,641 drug offences detected in the first nine months of 2020, up 8.7 per cent on the same period last year. Weapons and explosive offences increased to 3,035, a 12.3 per cent increase.

Both escalations are at least due partly to increased Garda checkpoints on the roads as part of measures to enforce the Covid-19 restrictions. The force’s drugs and organised crime units have also enjoyed significant success against criminal groups, with a large amount of narcotics and money being seized in private homes.

Crimes against the person, including assaults, threats to murder and harassments fell by 10.7 per cent on the same period last year. The reduction was much bigger for male victims (down 13.4 per cent) compared to female victims (down 7 per cent).

Furthermore, there was a 6 per cent increase in the number of female victims aged 30-44. This may reflect an increase in domestic violence incidents which have been reported by gardaí.