Dublin has among the lowest detection rates for murder, assaults and theft in the country, according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The CSO’s crime detection figures track when An Garda Siochana have “detected” those responsible for a crime, for example, when at least one suspect has been identified or when that person has been issued a charge or summons, a formal or informal caution, or a fixed payment notice.
The crime detection rate is the number of detected crimes compared with the number of crimes reported in the same period. Detection rates typically rise over time before settling.
The CSO statistics show that detection rates measured in September 2022 for crimes reported in 2020 increased for most offences when compared with September 2021.
Nationally, 24% of fraud offences had been detected by September 2022, compared with 19% in the 12 months previous, and the detection rate for sexual offences doubled to 20% over the same period.
The figures also show the Dublin metropolitan region’s low detection rates, contrasting with a higher rate of crimes than the rest of the country.
Despite Dublin having a robbery, extortion and hijacking rate five times higher than any other region, its detection rate was low – at 23% for the Dublin region compared with 39% for the Southern region.
Dublin also had the highest crime rate for attempts or threats to murder, assaults, and harassments, at 481 per 100,000 people, but had the lowest detection rate at 24% for these types of offences, compared with a high of 40% for the Eastern region.
The Dublin rate for theft offences was about three times higher than other regions, at 1,798 per 100,000 people, but its detection rate was the country’s lowest, at 29% compared with the highest rate of 40% for the Southern region.
Nationally, fraud and deception offences had a detection rate of 6% in September 2022, down 13 percentage points from 2020.
Kidnapping and related offences had a detection rate of just 29%, down 17 percentage points on 2020, with the low reported incidents of these crimes possibly accounting for the significant change.
According to the figures, males are detected as responsible for 99% of rape and sexual assaults, almost 90% of homicide, burglary, extortion and hijacking offences, 80% of assaults, and 66% of thefts.
The CSO figures also show that there was a decrease in the number of fines issued by An Garda Siochana between 2020 and 2021, with a 26% decrease in driving without insurance and a 25% decrease in cycling offences.
