03 December 2019
Go to release: Recorded Crime Detection 2018
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (03 December 2019) published statistics on crime detection for 2018. The statistics provide a snapshot of the extent to which crimes reported to An Garda Síochána in 2018 have been detected. For a crime to be marked as detected at least one suspected offender must be identified and sanctioned.
Commenting on the release, Sam Scriven, Statistician said: “The CSO has not published statistics on crime detection in Ireland since 2016, for reference year 2014. The decision to resume publication of crime detection statistics now is based on ongoing demand for these statistics from users and, importantly, in response to new data governance controls introduced by An Garda Síochána specifically targeted at improving data quality in the recording of detections.
The new governance controls support more reliable data outputs. It is important for users to understand, however, that the improved data quality constitutes a significant break-in-series for measuring crime detection rates in Ireland. Therefore 2018 detection rates published today cannot be compared with figures published from before this change.
The proportion of crimes reported in 2018 which were detected, by the beginning of September 2019, varies considerably by crime incident type, from a high of 85% of recorded incidents in Group 10 (Controlled drug offences) to a low of 11% of recorded incidents in Group 02 (Sexual offences). The detection rate for Murder/manslaughter incidents was 72%.
Detection rates for crimes reported in 2018 are likely to increase over time as more investigations are completed, as a time lag can be expected in solving crime (preparing files for prosecution, awaiting technical evidence, etc.).
The CSO continues to publish all Recorded Crime statistics using the category Statistics Under Reservation*. An Garda Síochána have undertaken to introduce an effective data quality management system for the production of crime statistics, and this work is underway. The categorisation of Statistics Under Reservation applies to all statistical outputs sourced from PULSE data in the interim”.
* see Editor's Note
What does Statistics Under Reservation mean?
The classification Statistics Under Reservation has been applied to reflect the fact that there are data quality issues in the underlying sources used to compile these statistics. This approach of differentiating statistics based on quality concerns associated with the underlying data is consistent with other jurisdictions such as England and Wales.
In the case of Recorded Crime statistics, the new classification will actively alert users to the underlying quality deficiencies and inform them that further revisions can be expected as these deficiencies are resolved.
Read more here: https://www.cso.ie/en/methods/crime/statisticsunderreservationfaqs/
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