Re-offending by Detected Incidents 2024

Over one-fifth of the total number of re-offending incidents in 2024 were linked to Theft

• Almost nine in ten (85%) of Burglary and Robbery related crime incidents detected in 2024, were linked to suspected offenders with previous PULSE detections.
• Although nearly all (96%) incidents in 2024 relating to Justice Procedures involved a re-offender, this category accounted for just 4% (6,634 out of 166,328) of the overall number of PULSE detected crime incidents. The Justice Procedures category includes incidents such as a failure to comply with court orders and wasting An Garda Síochána's time.
• Over one in five (21%) of all PULSE detected crime incidents in 2024 related to Dangerous, Careless Driving* related incidents, with nearly one in three (29%) of these linked to an offender who was previously detected to at least one other crime incident.
• Excluding Dangerous, Careless Driving incidents and Vehicle Maintenance and Duty of Care, where incidents are mainly managed outside of PULSE by the Fixed Charge Processing System (FCPS), eight in ten (81%) PULSE detected crime incidents were linked to an existing offender.
• Four in five (80%) crime incidents relating to Drug incidents involved a suspected offender with a history of detected offending (See Figure 3.1 & Table 3.1).

Note: *Does not include Non-PULSE Fixed Charge Processing Notices (FCPN's) such as speeding or parking tickets if the offence sanction (fine) was paid without escalation via a follow up summons due to non-compliance.

Most detected PULSE crime incidents in 2024 involved individuals with previous links to offending

• Over six in ten (61%) detected PULSE crime incidents in 2024 involved individuals with a history of offending.
• One-fifth (20%) of detected PULSE crime incidents in 2024 involved suspected offenders linked with between one and five historical PULSE incidents.
• Just under a half (45%) of Drug related crime incidents in 2024 involved suspected offenders linked with between one and ten other PULSE incidents.
• Nearly a half (49%) of detected Theft, Fraud, Robbery, and Deception related incidents in 2024 involved suspected offenders linked to more than 20 previous incidents, with a similar share for Trespassing, Burglary, Illegal Access, Damage or Loss (45%).
• During 2024, more than seven in ten (71%) of PULSE detected incident relating to Dangerous, Careless Driving including Speeding and General Road Incidents* involved first time suspected offenders (See Figure 3.2 and Table 3.2).

Note: *This estimate excludes Fixed Charge Processing related incidents such as speeding if the offender complied with the fixed charge process without any further issuing of summons and subsequent escalation to the PULSE incident database.

One-fifth of each of Theft and Burglary related crime incidents involved suspected offenders who were also linked to a separate crime incident less than one week earlier

• Just under one-fifth (18%) of detected crime incidents in 2024 involved suspected offenders whose previous link to a crime incident was reported more than one year earlier.
• Just under one-sixth (16%) of detected crime incidents that took place in 2024 were linked with a suspected offender who previously offended between one and six months earlier (See Figure 3.3 and Table 3.3).

Re-offenders linked to detected incidents in 2024 were most likely to have been linked to historical incidents related to Theft, Fraud, Robbery and Deception or Drug related incidents

This section examines the relationship between the most recent incident and the most recent previous incident.

• Almost four in ten (39%) detected crime incidents on PULSE in 2024 involved a suspected offender who was not linked to an historical incident.
• Re-offending crime incidents in 2024 were most likely to be linked to individuals with a history of Theft, Fraud, Robbery, or Deception related incidents.
• Almost half (46%) Theft, Fraud, Robbery, or Deception related incidents in 2024 were detected to suspected offenders whose most recent incident was also related to Theft.
• Less than one-third (30%) of detected crime incidents in 2024 relating to Sexual Violence were linked with a suspected offender that had no links to any previous detected PULSE incidents.
• A third (33%) of detected crime incidents that related to Drugs in 2024 were linked to suspected offenders with historical links to the same incident type (See Figure 3.4 and Table 3.4).

Lowest incident re-offending rates in the Tipperary Division

This section looks at the level of re-offending across Garda divisions, which will vary by population, degree of urbanisation, and demographic profile. 

• The Tipperary Garda Division (44%) had the lowest level of re-offending PULSE crime incidents in 2024.
• The highest level of detected re-offending in 2024 was reported in Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR) North Central. In this division, over three-quarters (78%) of detected PULSE crime incidents related to a suspected offender who was also linked to a previous PULSE incident. DMR North Central also contained the highest number of detected incidents in 2024 (17,091) (See Map 3.1 & Table 3.5).