Garda Inspectorate report: The numbers

The Garda Inspectorate report on Garda investigation of crime contains about 500 pages of critical analysis of the Garda and policing in the State.

More than 200 recommendations were made, as well as comparisons with other jurisdictions.

Below are some of the figures emerging from the report.

44%

The amount of gardaí who are attached to regular units across all 28 divisions. The report says the “significant percentage” of gardaí engaged in administrative and non-operational duties is noteworthy, with more gardaí in administrative/non-operational posts than in community policing and an equivalent amount deployed on detective duties.

83%

The amount of crimes that were reclassified as a less serious offence. Some 25,588 crimes were identified as reclassified, which amounts to 8.5 per cent of total crime recorded on Pulse during the 12-month period. The inspectorate examined 12,506 crimes that were reclassified on Pulse across all divisions from January 2011 to May 2012. In 83 per cent of cases, the chart shows a reclassification resulted in a crime moving to a less serious offence and in 13 per cent of cases, the crime went to a more serious crime type.

76%

The amount of robberies that were incorrectly reclassified in 2012. Some 10 per cent were correctly classified, while there was insufficient detail to determine classification in 12 per cent of cases.

67,126

The decrease in crimes recorded in 2013 compared with the peak in 2008, when 296,705 were recorded. There has been a consistent year-on-year reduction in crime to 229,579 incidents in 2013. Total recorded crime in most jurisdictions can be affected by police-generated activity, says the report.

56%

The number of gardaí working in regular units, but investigating the vast majority of crimes that take place in a division. An average of 12 per cent of members are assigned to detective duties and a further 5 per cent to drugs units and taskforces, but these units are not investigating an equal proportion of crime.

The inspectorate says the norm in other police services is for detectives to investigate an equal or even higher proportion.

Other specialist units such as traffic and community members have 14 per cent of staff, but are not investigating the same percentage of crime.

250

The number of crime investigations in a year for a particular community garda in a town centre. Another interviewed in a different division did not investigate any crimes in a year. Generally, the Garda Inspectorate found an “inconsistent approach” to community policing and to the role of community gardaí in crime investigation.

25%

The amount of time spent working on operational policing and criminal investigation at the Garda Training College in Templemore, Co Tipperary. This was less than the total time spent on language skills, physical exercise and studying.

18

The number of times a victim of crime tried to get a garda to take a statement of complaint from them. They were speaking to the inspectorate at the annual National Garda Crime Victims Forum.

8,147

The number of fingerprints taken in 2012 out of the 26,149 prints that ought to have been taken. This represents just 31 per cent. The report said there is a “systemic failure” to effectively deal with persons convicted of indictable offences at court, where fingerprints “should always be taken”.

66%

The recorded detection rate in 2012. The detection rate includes the majority of detected crimes but excludes traffic offences and some miscellaneous categories, as the volume of these incidents distorts the recorded crime detection picture. The rate reached a peak of 69 per cent in 2008.

72%

The amount of detections from May-July 2012 that were incorrectly recorded (not in accordance with the Crime Counting Rules). A further 9 per cent had insufficient information to confirm whether the detection was correct or not. From this examination the inspectorate said it believed that the Crime Counting Rules “were not always followed” in these cases.

700

The approximate number of untrained detectives. The new detective course is two weeks in duration and the Garda College in Templemore has planned to run a one-week course for those who have been appointed for some time. Some of those detectives on the course had investigated serious crimes such as rape and complex crimes such as fraud without any formal training.