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Table 3.1 provides further breakdown by offence type of the total number of recorded crime incidents in the 12 months to March 2022 compared with the corresponding period a year earlier.
The number of Group 01 (Homicide Offences) fell by 38% between 2021 and 2022, falling from 66 to 41. This was mainly driven by a fall in equal measure of 11 in ‘Dangerous Driving Leading to Death’ and ‘Murder’ incidents over this period. See Table 3.1.
There was an increase of 19% or 3,475 in the number of crimes classified in Group 03 (Attempts/Threats to Murder, Assaults, Harassments and Related Offences) compared to the previous 12 months. The majority of this came from increases in the number of incidents of Assault Causing Harm, Poisoning (+31% or +1,271) and Other Assault (+18% or +1,940). There were also increases in the number of incidents categorised as Threats to Kill or Cause Serious Harm (+9% or +148) and Harassment and Related Offences (+7% or +116). The number of incidents of ‘Murder-Attempt’ remained unchanged. See Table 3.1.
Incidents of Group 07 (Burglary and Related Offences) increased by 4% or 337 over the year and most of this came from a 5% or 441 increase in incidents of Burglary (Not Aggravated).
Increases in incidents of Theft/Taking of Vehicle and related offences (+29% or +1,022) and Theft from Shop (+18% or 3,214) accounted for most of the increase of 10% or 4,699 in incidents of Group 08 (Theft & Related Offences) in the year to Q1 2022.
Over the year, the number of incidents in Group 10 (Controlled Drug Offences) fell by 26% or 6,199 and reductions in Possession of Drugs for Sale or Supply and Possession of Drugs for Personal Use accounted for much of this decrease.
Incidents of Group15 (Offences against Government, Justice Procedures and Organisation of Crime) rose by 24% or 2,338 over the year and this was driven by an increase of 25% or 2,333 in Offences While in Custody, Breach of Court Orders.
Table 3.2 shows the trend in recorded crime incidents by incident category over a five-year period, from the 12 months ending March 2018 to the 12 months ending March 2022. The figures for 2020 and 2021 for some crime categories are likely to have been influenced by the public health restrictions imposed as a result of COVID-19.
The number of crime incidents classified as Fraud, Deception and Related offences has more than trebled from 5,270 in the year to Q1 2018 to 17,354 in the year to Q1 2022. Within this period, the number of incidents had been increasing steadily between 2018 and 2021 but nearly doubled in the year to Q1 2022. See Table 3.2 and Figure 3.1.
The number of recorded incidents of Burglary and Related Offences, which had been falling slightly between 2018 and 2020, nearly halved between 2020 and 2021. This was most likely influenced by the travel restrictions imposed due to COVID-19. The number of Burglary and Related Offences fell from 18,693 to 16,411 between 2018 and 2020 but fell sharply to 8,933 in 2021 before rising to 9,270 by the end of March 2022. See Table 3.2 and Figure 3.1.
A similar pattern was observed for Theft & Related Offences where the number of recorded incidents were falling slightly between 2018 and 2020 but fell from 66,769 to 46,400 in 2021 before rising to 51,099 in 2022. See Table 3.2.
Incidents of Offences against Government, Justice Procedures and Organisation of Crime were increasing steadily between 2018 and 2020. However, the number of incidents went from 17,241 in 2020 to 9,594 in 2021 before rising to 11,932 in 2022. See Table 3.2.
| 07 Burglary and Related Offences | 08 Theft and Related Offences | 15 Offences against Government, Justice Procedures and Organisation of Crime | |
| 2018 | 18693 | 69267 | 14401 |
| 2019 | 16738 | 67303 | 16894 |
| 2020 | 16411 | 66769 | 17241 |
| 2021 | 8933 | 46400 | 9594 |
| 2022 | 9270 | 51099 | 11932 |
Crime by Garda regions
The Garda regional structure changed in 2019. This reduced the number of Garda regions from six to four. The four regions are:
A breakdown of recorded crime incidents by Garda region for the year to Q1 2021 and Q1 2022 is provided in Table 3.3.
Homicides and Related Offences fell across all Garda regions over the year with the largest fall in the Southern Region (-65%).
The number of incidents of Assault also increased across all regions as did Theft and Related Offences and Fraud, Deception and Related Offences.
By contrast, the number of incidents of Controlled Drug Offences and Weapons & Explosive Offences were down across all Garda regions. The North Western region had the largest fall (-32%) in Controlled Drugs Offences while it was the Eastern region (-25%) for Weapons and Explosive Offences.
There were mixed results for some crime categories across regions. Robbery, Extortion & Hijacking Offences were up in all but the Dublin Metropolitan region. The largest increase (+45%) was in the Eastern region while the number of incidents fell by 5% in the Dublin Metropolitan region. A similar pattern was evident for Burglary & Related Offences where there was a drop of 8% in the Dublin Metropolitan region but increases across all other regions.
| Dublin Metropolitan | North Western | Eastern | Southern | |
| 02 Sexual offences | 28.4 | 23 | 24.7 | 23.9 |
| 06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences | 62.8 | 9.8 | 15.2 | 12.3 |
| 07 Burglary and related offences | 41.6 | 16.1 | 25.5 | 16.8 |
| 08 Theft and related offences | 53.8 | 11 | 18 | 17.2 |
| 10 Controlled drug offences | 38.3 | 13.9 | 23.1 | 24.7 |
| 12 Damage to property and to the environment | 40.3 | 17.6 | 21.1 | 21 |
| 13 Public order and other social code offences | 35.1 | 20.5 | 19.6 | 24.9 |
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