Co Kildare crime figures decreasing according to latest figures

Crime figures are decreasing in Co Kildare according to the latest  official CSO figures but there is still a major drugs problem in Athy that needs tackling according to Supt Martin Walker.

Calls for a dedicated drugs squad in Athy to deal with a growing heroin problem have not been met due to lack of resources.

Despite a steady allocation of new recruits from Templemore over the last number of years, the number of Gardaí for Co Kildare still remains well below  the national average.

Supt Walker said: "I don't have the luxury of getting a dedicated drugs unit in Athy, there is a high rate of Garda injuries and attrition in Athy. If I had additional resources I would set up a drugs squad in Athy."

Meanwhile the latest CSO figures show that Naas Garda Station was Co  Kildare’s busiest station with 180 reported burglaries in 2018 and Castledermot had the lowest rate of burglaries in 2018.

Figures show that over two burglaries take place in Co Kildare daily.

The number of sexual offences committed in Kildare decreased by 21.4% in 2018.

Nationally the number of incidents of fraud and related offences rose by 18.4% in 2018, while reported robberies (+11.3%) and sexual offences (+10.3%) continued to rise. The numbers of homicides (-10.8%), burglaries (-11.5%) and criminal damage offences (-7.2%) decreased in 2018 relative to 2017.

The Central Statistics Office intends, during April 2019, to publish statistics relating to the victims of serious crime incident types such as homicides, assaults and sexual offences. The publication of these statistics is in response to considerable user demand for such statistics. The analysis of victims will look at characteristics such as the sex of victims, the age at the time an offence first occurred and the time gap between when an offence occurred and when it was reported to An Garda Síochána, so as to provide some context to the reporting of such offences in Ireland.