Crime trends mostly positive
There has been a significant drop in property crime in Cork over the past year, but instances of sexual assault and drug possession have spiked.
Figures released at this week’s Cork County Joint Policing Committee (JPC) meeting show that property crime in all three divisions has fallen, with Cork city recording 1,544 crimes versus 2,182 between January and August in 2020.
However, non-aggravated sexual assaults are on the rise county wide with each division showing an increase of nine or more incidents. The largest increase was recorded in Cork North where numbers more than doubled from 15 last year to 36 so far in 2021.
Instances of drug possession for personal use also increased noticeably across the board with Cork City seeing a jump from 767 last year to 958 this year. Cork north rose from 351 to 380, while Cork West rose from 140 to 176.
Delivering the statistics was Chief Superintendent Barry McPolin who said the pandemic had not slowed down the use of drugs in Cork.
“You can see there's a substantial increase there in the level of detection in each of the divisions. For the most part, these are in relation to a wide variety of substances.
“Each division has put a lot of garda resources into tackling this problem and dealing with it accordingly,” he said.
In terms of domestic abuse, numbers suggested positive reductions overall, with Cork City and Cork West divisions recording a reduction in reported incidents of 12 per cent and nine per cent respectively. However, Cork North saw an increase of three per cent.
In line with the rise in drug possession, drug driving was higher this year overall with Cork City the only division to see a decrease in instances, dropping from 67 to 52. Cork North went from 82 to 108, while Cork West increased from 63 to 95.
In summary, Chief Superintendent McPolin was satisfied that crime numbers were either remaining roughly the same or on a downward trend.
Cllr Ian Doyle complimented gardaí on the work they have done since the beginning of the pandemic.
“It's a positive report. My complements to all the gardaí during this eighteen month period. It's been tremendous and I think the role of community guards and all gardaí in this pandemic has been tremendous and that's proved in the report,” he said.
There has been a significant drop in property crime in Cork over the past year, but instances of sexual assault and drug possession have spiked.
Figures released at this week’s Cork County Joint Policing Committee (JPC) meeting show that property crime in all three divisions has fallen, with Cork city recording 1,544 crimes versus 2,182 between January and August in 2020.
However, non-aggravated sexual assaults are on the rise county wide with each division showing an increase of nine or more incidents. The largest increase was recorded in Cork North where numbers more than doubled from 15 last year to 36 so far in 2021.
Instances of drug possession for personal use also increased noticeably across the board with Cork City seeing a jump from 767 last year to 958 this year. Cork north rose from 351 to 380, while Cork West rose from 140 to 176.
Delivering the statistics was Chief Superintendent Barry McPolin who said the pandemic had not slowed down the use of drugs in Cork.
“You can see there's a substantial increase there in the level of detection in each of the divisions. For the most part, these are in relation to a wide variety of substances.
“Each division has put a lot of garda resources into tackling this problem and dealing with it accordingly,” he said.
In terms of domestic abuse, numbers suggested positive reductions overall, with Cork City and Cork West divisions recording a reduction in reported incidents of 12 per cent and nine per cent respectively. However, Cork North saw an increase of three per cent.
In line with the rise in drug possession, drug driving was higher this year overall with Cork City the only division to see a decrease in instances, dropping from 67 to 52. Cork North went from 82 to 108, while Cork West increased from 63 to 95.
In summary, Chief Superintendent McPolin was satisfied that crime numbers were either remaining roughly the same or on a downward trend.
Cllr Ian Doyle complimented gardaí on the work they have done since the beginning of the pandemic.
“It's a positive report. My complements to all the gardaí during this eighteen month period. It's been tremendous and I think the role of community guards and all gardaí in this pandemic has been tremendous and that's proved in the report,” he said.