Sharp increase in level of personal crime
In the fourth quarter of 2003, over one in twenty (5.2%) persons aged 18 or over indicated that they had been a victim in the previous year of at least one of the following personal crimes: theft with violence; theft without violence; or physical assault (excluding domestic violence or sexual assault). The comparable rate for the fourth quarter of 1998 was less than half the 2003 rate at a little over one in forty or 2.4%.
These results are taken from the QNHS modules on Crime and Victimisation, which were undertaken in the fourth quarters of 1998 and 2003 and refer to crime experienced in the previous twelve months and
are published today (29th July 2004).
Crimes against property
The incidence of crimes against property remained relatively unchanged over the same five-year period. In the fourth quarter of 2003, 11.7% of all households indicated that they had been victims to varying degrees over the previous year of at least one of the following crimes: burglary; theft of or from motor vehicles; bicycle theft; or vandalism. The comparable figure five years previously was slightly higher at 12.1%.
Crimes against property were the highest in the Dublin region, where 18.7% of households had been a victim of one of the types of crime surveyed. This represented a slight decrease on the figure recorded five years previously (20.1%). Outside the Dublin region exposure to household crime was highest in the Mid-East (12.4%) and Mid-West (11.1%) and lowest in the West (7.2%).
Public opinion
Despite some slippage since 1998, the public’s rating of the work of the Gardaí at local level is still high with almost three out of every five who responded to this question in 2003 indicating that they considered it to be either “good” or “very good”.
Just over 80% of those surveyed in 2003 considered that crime was either a “serious” or “very serious” problem – compared with almost 77% in 1998. However, the percentage that considered it to be a “very serious” problem increased more sharply from 38.4% in 1998 to 46.3% in 2003. There was very little change in the sense of security amongst the public at large. The full content of the release can be viewed at www.cso.ie (PDF 191KB) (PDF 196KB)
For further information contact:
Nicola Tickner on 021 453 5420 or Noel Ryan on 021 453 5491.
Fax 021 453 5492
E-mail labour@cso.ie
Central Statistics Office
29 July 2004
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