INTERIM GARDA COMMISSIONER Noirin O’Sullivan has described the process of crime statistics as “not an exact science”.
This comes after a report today by the Garda Inspectorate found substantial deficiencies in the ways that crimes are recorded.
Speaking today, Commissioner O’Sullivan, said, “crime reporting is certainly not an exact science, and it is something that police forces the world over grapple with. I very much welcome the announcement by the Minister [Fitzgerald] today in terms of the establishment of an expert panel.”
In today’s report it was found that PULSE, the current computerised system used by An Garda Síochána, is a “national incident recording system and not a crime investigation or case management system” – facing criticism that it fails to meet requirements of a modern police service.
It was stated in the findings that many incidents were either incorrectly or not at all in the system. The was found to be the result of a number of structural and management issues within the Gardaí as well as problems in the way that data is recorded.
There was also criticism for the manner in the way that crimes were reclassified within the PULSE system.
The practice of reclassifying crime is standard in police forces internationally. It often occurs when more information about a crime becomes available.
Research into the database used by the Gardaí however found that 71% of crimes reclassified were done so incorrectly.
The full report can be viewed here.
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