Attended the Central Area Policing Committee this morning. These meetings are getting better and better as the Gardai are supplying statistics and higher quality information. The meeting are very ably chaired by Cllr Christy Burke. They are attended by all Oireachtas members for the Central Area and local Councillors.
Matters raised by me included public parks (Royal Canal Bank, behind Mount Bernard Park and Ashington Green) and the improved response by the Gardai on issues raised by public representatives. A discussion took place on legislation in relation to begging in the City Centre.
Overall, the Gardai shared exceptionally useful information about the number of crimes reported in the area and the detection rates. The main poin is that the number of crimes reported is down vs year ago. This is a credit to the Gardai. I asked why the detection rates were down as well. Crime prevention does appear to be working but I was concerned about the reduction in the detection. Didn’t get an answer to this but I will raise it again.