Crime victimisation rates have fallen in the last year – but so too has the percentage of victims reporting their crime to the gardaí
A public survey found that, among victims who did report, there was a substantial increase in their satisfaction with the garda response.
But there was an equally dramatic fall among victims who reported that they had been provided with the right amount of information by gardaí.
The Garda Public Attitudes Survey for Q3 (July-September) 2018 shows that people's level of trust in An Garda Síochána remains very high (91%) and a significant rise among people in their satisfaction with the organisation.
But a third of people said “community relations” with gardaí were poor, with a significant reduction in people who believe gardaí listened to the concerns of local people.
Comparing Q2 2017 with Q2 2018, the survey found:
- * Victimisation rate dropped from 6.7% to 5.5%;
- *Victim reporting rate fell from 80% to 76%;
- * Satisfaction rates among victims who reported rose from 51% to 68%;
- * Those who felt they were given the right amount of information fell from 54% to 37%
The report said this analysis was done on a small portion of the survey and that this should be borne in mind.
The survey found that fewer people thought national crime to be a serious problem (down from 75% to 71%), with a similar fall regarding local crime (down from 22% to 18%).
There has also been an increase in the number saying they did not fear becoming a victim of crime (up from 47% to 50%). However, fewer people said they had no fear about crime in general (down from 39% to 35%).
The report shows no improvement in people's perception of garda patrols in their local area, with the same percentage (37%) saying they were not aware of such patrols.
Similarly, 60% said garda visibility was about right, the same as last year.
There was a significant increase, from 69% to 76% (including don't knows), in people's satisfaction with An Garda Síochána. However, almost a third of people said community relations with gardaí were poor and there was a significant drop, from 83% to 70%, who said local gardaí listened to the concerns of local people.
In addition, 36% of people said gardaí are not dealing with things that matter to people in their community, down from 45% a year ago.
But there was an increase, from 88% to 91%, in people with a mid-to-high level of trust in the force.
Improvements were seen regarding people's perception of the Garda force, including that it is:#
- * friendly or helpful (up from 84% to 88%);'
- * community focused (up from 63% to 67%);
- * modern or progressive (up 58% to 61%);
- * effective in tackling crime (up from 56% to 59%);
- * well managed (36% to 44%)
