A massive drop in crime figures from April to June is being attributed to Covid-19 restrictions which shut down the movement of people and led to more people staying at home. Sexual offences and assaults also saw significant decreases in the second quarter of the year relative to the corresponding period in 2019. These rising figures may be down to an increase in incidents of domestic violence which has been alluded to during lockdown. Three other areas where crime levels actually went up were in relation to fraud and deception, controlled drug offences, and weapons and explosives offences. The CSO figures reflect numbers issued in June by An Garda Síochána in relation to crime figures it recorded for the period from March, April and May.

Source: Irish Independent September 29, 2020 13:52 UTC