APPROXIMATELY 22,654 INCIDENTS of assault were recorded by gardaí in 2022, representing a 16.3% increase in recorded assault when compared to 2021.
Figures reported in An Garda Síochána’s Annual Report 2022 found that there were 1,888 assaults recorded per month last year. Gardaí detected 6,833 of these reports.
The report listed assault as one of the most common causes of occupational injuries in 2022. In May, sentences were increased to 12 years for those found guilty of assaulting an on-duty Garda.
This is the highest number of assaults recorded by Gardaí in the last number of years, however changes to the mechanisms for reporting offences has changed internally.
Through the Garda PULSE system, Gardaí must now record every crime that is reported to them. Previously, there was haphazard recording of offences.
An update to the PULSE system in 2018 also introduced new processes as to how incidents are recorded as “detected” as well, therefore it is suggested that the figures should not compared to those from before the update.
It should also be noted, based on what experts told The Journal in August, that very few victims of assault make a report to gardaí, and that the figures capture only a “small percentage of what’s actually going on”. This is called the ‘dark figure’ of crime.
The majority of recorded indictable offences – serious charges which can or must be tried before a judge and jury in the Circuit Court or the Central Criminal Court – also increased in 2022.
The number of recorded domestic abuse incidents increased by 4,931 last year, when compared to 2021. The monthly average of these recordings was 3,549 per month.
The number of domestic abuse calls to gardaí also increase, seeing gardaí respond to 53,737 domestic abuse calls in 2022 alone. Of these calls, 11,239 charges relating to all domestic abuse incidents were created.
Last year, gardaí received 49,477 calls to respond to domestic abuse incidents. In 2020, that figure was 43,500.
Recorded incidents of sexual crime by gardaí also increased, with the PULSE system recording 3,696 in 2022 alone. This equated to an average of 308 recorded incidents of sexual crime per month, and 179 more recorded incidents when compared to 2021.
Gardaí detected 911 of these recorded incidents or 76 detections per month.
Gardaí recorded 9,138 incidents of burglary in 2022 and 2,053 incidents of robbery. Both of these crimes have seen a significant fall off in recent years, but 2022 marked an increase.
Gardaí warn readers of the report that the Covid-19 pandemic did have an impact on these statistics and “presented a unique set of circumstances, which make comparisons with other strategy periods difficult”.
When comparing to the end of the force’s last strategy period (2019-2021) a incidents recorded by gardaí or burglary and robbery increased by 9% and 18.5%, respectively, in 2022.
Gardaí, however, had a higher detection rate for both of these offences in 2022, with 1,805 of the reported burglary incidents and 608 of the reported robbery incidents being detected.
In 2021, gardaí detected 1,768 reported burglary incidents and 605 reported robbery incidents – although both crimes have seen an increase in recordings.
Operation Thor – a garda initiative to crack down on burglaries – has led to a 48% decrease in residential burglaries, a 44% decrease in non-residential burglaries and over 18,000 arrests, according to the report.
Over 42,500 incidents of the sale and supply of drugs were recorded by Gardaí in 2022, a major increase when compared to the 37,656 incidents which were recorded in 2021.
Of this, 10.1% less recorded incidents were detected by gardaí last year with less than 10% (4,257) being marked as such by gardaí.
An estimated €57 million in drug seizures were carried out by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) last year – which comes to a total of €325 million since 2015.
Over €26 million worth of cannabis herb and €18 million worth of cocaine were seized in 2022.
Nine firearms, connected to organised crime, were confiscated by the GNDOCB last year, who made 173 arrests for Drug Trafficking, Money Laundering, Possession of Firearms and Kindred Offences.
A total of 157 people died on Ireland’s roads last year , according to the gardaí’s annual report. This was the highest recorded number of road fatalities since 2017.
Separate figures from An Garda Síochána reveal that this figure has already been equalled with more than two months to go before the end of the year.
This means that the number of fatalities is almost one-third higher (31.3%) than it was at this time last year.
“This increase in our road deaths is of great concern,” the report said.
It added: “All of us involved in road safety must re-double our efforts to save lives, while everyone using the roads must play their part to ensure more families don’t suffer the loss of a loved one.”
Road traffic collisions were also noted as one of the most common causes of occupational injuries in 2022.
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