This article is from page 3 of the 2006-10-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
SERIOUS crime in Clare has increased while burglaries have rocketed and drink driving arrests have gone up by a massive 62 per cent in the first six months of this year.
But the Garda response to the various jumps in criminal activity is bringing the stats down, Chief Superintendent Liam Quinn told a meeting of Clare County Council last night.
There were 762 serious crimes committed in the Clare Garda division in the first six months of 2005. This jumped to 832 in the same period for 2006.
Chief Supt Quinn said that these were the “type of crime which would require trial by jury” including selling drugs and serious firearms offences.
But the Clare Garda chief told the meeting that various Garda operations in the district were bringing these figures down and this would show when crime figures for the whole year were available.
One of the most marked increases was in burglaries and these were up by 33 per cent to 220.
“This is part of a national phenomenon and while no specific study has been made of the reasons for this, most of these crimes were committed during daylight hours and it is possibly because houses are more often empty now with both people out working,” he said.
Garda initiatives in Clare included Operation Sixkilla, a crackdown on the activities of criminal gangs from Limerick and Dublin and Operation Nightwatch in Ennis and in holiday towns including Kilrush and Kilkee, all of which are “having an impact”, the Chief Superintendent said.
The Garda boss and Superintendent John Kerins were making a presentation to members of the council as a follow-up to issues raised by the councillors at a previous meeting with the Garda.
At the end of the meeting, the Mayor of Clare, Flan Garvey, presented a carved wooden sculpture of a boat to the chief superintendent, who is retiring and was attending his last meeting with the local authority.
He thanked the mayor for the gesture and said that he believed the challenge for policing in Clare “involves excess. Excess of drugs, excess of alcohol and excess of speeding. If we can deal with these we can solve many of our problems.”