Large increase in robbery offences in Louth Garda Division
CSO Release: Recorded Crime Q3 2022
There was a 57.9% increase in the number of robbery, extortion and hijacking offences recorded in the Louth Garda Division in the 12 months up to the second quarter (Q2) of 2022, compared to the previous 12 months, according to figures released this week by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
60 robbery, extortion and hijacking offences were recorded in the Louth Garda Division in the year to Q2 2022, up from 38 in the year to Q2 2021, an increase of 22.
Looking at some of the the figures in more detail, robbery of an establishment or institution rose from five in the year to Q2 2021, to 22 in the year to Q2 2022, a rise of 340%.
There was a 77% increase in the number of blackmail or extortion offences recorded in Louth, with 16 offences recorded up to Q2 2022, compared to nine a year earlier.
There was a slight decrease in the number of robbery from the person offences, with 18 recorded in the year to Q2 2022, compared to 20 a year earlier, representing a fall of 10%.
It is important to note that these statistics are categorised as Under Reservation by the CSO. This categorisation indicates that the quality of these statistics do not meet the standards required of official statistics published by the CSO.
The classification statistics Under Reservation has been applied to reflect the fact that there are data quality issues in the underlying sources used to compile these statistics. This approach of differentiating statistics based on quality concerns associated with the underlying data is consistent with other jurisdictions such as England and Wales.
In the case of Recorded Crime statistics, the new classification will actively alert users to the underlying quality deficiencies and inform them that further revisions can be expected as these deficiencies are resolved.
The decision to publish using the statistics Under Reservation category reflects concerns the CSO has around the completeness and accuracy of PULSE data. Data published under this category will provide users with the best information available while clearly identifying the quality issues and flagging where revisions are likely.