THE CRIME rate has continued to fall during the first three months of this year, following a 2 per cent reduction last year, according to the latest official figures.
Preliminary Garda figures for the first three months of this year show an overall drop of 5 per cent in reported crime.
There were seven "violent deaths" compared to 11 in the first three months of 1996. Theft from the person was down 6 per cent, while there was an 11 per cent reduction in thefts from cars, and a 5 per cent fall in robberies from shops. Robbery with firearms was down by 51 per cent, but other categories of robbery were up 3 per cent.
However, the number of reported rapes increased, following a trend established in recent years. Official sources did not reveal the figure for rape or sexual assault but said it was "slightly up" over the three month period.
. Three of the five Garda divisions in Dublin have recorded a reduction in crime, while two showed an increase. In the Dublin east and north areas crime was up 7 per cent, while in the north and south inner city, and in Dublin south, crime fell by an average of 7.5 per cent.
The Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, opening a new Garda divisional headquarters in Drogheda yesterday, said the crime graph was now "going down for the first time since 1989".
There were about 100,000 indictable or serious crimes in 1996, compared to more than 102,000 in 1995.
