Westmeath burglaries down by 30pc last year

The number of reported burglaries in the Westmeath Garda Division fell by more than 30% last year.

That’s according to new garda statistics, which revealed that 248 burglaries were reported by the public in 2018, 118 (32%) fewer than in 2017, when the figure was 366.

Speaking at the first Joint Policing Committee of the year, which was held in Áras an Chontae yesterday (Monday), Chief Superintendent Peter Duff said that the reduction in burglaries locally last year was down to a number of factors – including the staging of targeted patrols and checkpoints in areas where burglars have been active and the increased monitoring of people out on bail.

The monitoring includes calling to the homes of burglary suspects at night to see if they are there and complying with the curfews that are often part of their bail conditions.

There was also a significant reduction in the number of reported thefts from vehicles, which fell from 210 in 2017 to 96 last year, a decrease of 54%; in the number of reported criminal damage incidents (413 in 2017 to 302 in 2018, a decrease of 27%) and public order detections (down from 331 in 2017 to 249 last year, a drop of 25%).

The number of reported sexual offences fell from 51 in 2017 to 39 last year and the number of people arrested for drink driving dropped from 230 in 2017 to 175 in 2018.

Increases

There was a 13% increase in the number of phone calls received about domestic incidents, up from 446 in 2017 to 508 last year.

Chief Supt Duff told the meeting that those calls led to 79 arrests, the majority for breaching court orders.

There was also a 15% increase in the number of seizures relating to the sale and supply of drugs in Westmeath – up from 84 in 2017 to 97 last year.

The number of seizures for drugs possession rose from 877 to 956, an increase of 9%.

A significant majority of the drugs in seizures in Westmeath in recent years occur at two music festivals, Life and Body and Soul.

Commenting on the increases in the number of seizures relating to drug dealing, Chief Supt Duff said that he saw that as a positive development, because it meant that there were more detections.

Also at the JPC meeting, a north Westmeath county councillor voiced his concern about people putting their eircodes at the end of death notices.

Cllr Frank McDermott said that he was “bit concerned” about people putting their eircodes at the end of such notices as it was “an invitation to people who shouldn’t be there”. He said it let criminals know that the family of the deceased and their neighbours wouldn’t be at home during the time of the funeral.

If people need to get directions to a wake, they could contact the undertakers, whose numbers are usually at the end of online death notices, Cllr McDermott suggested.