Claim on crime figures rejected by Callinan

Suggestions that Garda management had recently introduced changes in the recording of crime to “ massage” or lower the State’s official crime rate have been completely rejected by the Garda Commissioner

Responding to the claim at the GRA conference, Commissioner Martin Callinan said he was concerned to hear remarks from the president of the GRA,  John Parker, that some crimes were not being recorded as a crime until, and unless, a victim made a full statement of complaint to gardaí.

Mr Parker had also suggested in other cases, for example where a window had been broken by a burglar who gained entry to a house without stealing anything, that the crime was recorded as criminal damage rather than a burglary.

When asked if guidelines were issued in recent times suggesting that unless a victim makes a formal statement of complaint that an incident should not be recorded as a crime, Mr Callinan said: “That’s simply not true. If a crime is reported we are obliged to act on that report and to investigate it to the best of his or her ability. That will always remain the position.”

The Garda Commissioner said: “I spoke to the president on the way in. I’m satisfied that he doesn’t have any evidence – which is what I was worried about, that there might be something out there. But I know for a fact there isn’t and we move on from there.”

Fianna Fáil spokesman on justice Niall Collins called for a statement from Minister for Justice Alan Shatter following the GRA claims that official crime statistics are being massaged.

Mr Parker yesterday said he believed some of his comments had been taken out of context. However, he stood over remarks suggesting the resourcing of the force had been run down to such an extent in recent years that it no longer had a capacity to investigate crime fully.

He also insisted that if the victim of a burglary did not make a complaint, the crime was not recorded as such. This, he said, was not how crimes were recorded in previous years.

Mr Callinan said Operation Fiacla, established nationwide to tackle rising burglary trends, had resulted in the arrest of 5,000 suspects and over 2,700 criminal charges.

He believed that was a “phenomenal” success. He rejected a suggestion by the GRA that the recent purchase of a fleet of small vans for the force was inappropriate for gardaí trying to catch travelling robbery gangs moving at great speed across the country in high-powered stolen cars.

Mr Callinan said racing after gangs up and down the country would only put gardaí, gang members and the public at risk. What was needed was intelligence-driven operations to find out who they are and gather incriminating evidence to prosecute them.