Drop in drink-related offences reported

THE number of drink-related offences occurring in Shannon has declined significantly as the economy has contracted, the annual public meeting of the local Joint Policing Committee heard on Monday.
Also this year, the number of sexual offences reported has increased dramatically. At the meeting, Superintendent Peter Duff said in recent times, there has been more reporting of offences that took place many years ago, particularly in families and institutions.
The amount of public order offences recorded in the first nine months was 88, compared to 133 last year. The number of drink-driving offences went from 21 in the first nine months of last year to 12 in the equivalent period of 2011.
With regard to sexual offences, 11 were reported in the first nine months of this year, compared to two in the equivalent period in 2010. Speaking about the increase, Superintendent Duff said, “All other offences would be reported within 24 hours at the most and we find that with sexual offences, people are reporting things that happened in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, particularly in relation to families or institutions.”
He said that despite time lags, the gardaí investigate all complaints.
With regard to a decline in public order offences, he said most of them occur “around the night-time economy”. He said the recession has resulted in this sector declining significantly, which has had an impact on the number of offences.
The amount of incidences of driving without insurance increased by a quarter in the first nine months of the year, something that Superintendent Duff speculated might also be due to people opting not to pay for insurance due to financial difficulties.
The amount of minor assaults in the first three-quarters of this year was 26, down from 50 in the first nine months of 2010. However, the number of assaults causing harm went up from eight last year to 15 in 2011.
There was a slight decrease in the number of burglaries, while the number of arson offences went down from eight to one. There were fewer thefts from cars (25 compared to 43) but more thefts from shops (32 compared to 21).
The number of incidences of having drugs for sale or supply remained static at eight but the number of offences related to having drugs for personal use increased from 19 to 45.