*Cllr Alan O’Callaghan (FF). Photograph: Eamon Ward
BURGLARIES AND THEFTS are rising across Co Clare with the public aiding this level of criminality by keeping doors and windows opened, the Chief Superintendent has said.
A 48 percent increase in thefts have been observed by An Garda Síochána in examining 2022 figures with 2021, jumping from 150 to 222.
87 more instances of thefts from shops were reported last year, the figure of 382 showed a rise of 295 (29%).
An increase in burglaries was also recorded, going from 130 in 2021 to 151 in 2022, a rise of 16 percent.
There has been a reduction in the amount of thefts from moving or parked vehicles. The 2022 figure of 110 is lower than the 145 of 2021 and represents a drop of 29 percent.
Chief Superintendent in the Clare and Tipperary Garda Division, Colm O’Sullivan said it was remarkable that a high amount of these thefts occurred when vehicles or homes were left unlocked. “All I’ll say is thefts can be easily prevented by ourselves. They are very easily preventable. Often cars are left unlocked at night”.
He told a meeting of the Clare Joint Policing Committee (JPC) that in many estates, criminals check a number of cars or homes before finding one that is left unlocked, allowing them to take a substantial amount of goods. Such a scenario is amazing but very easy to clamp down by following simple security measures.
Cllr Alan O’Callaghan (FF) was concerned with the jump in thefts. “I think the footfall from shops has dropped because there’s more people buying online, these are reported thefts so it’s frightening to see”.
On this, the Chief Supt said the thefts from shop increase represented an increase of one and a half thefts per week over two years. “It has gone up but going back to 2021 shops would have been closed. A lot of the figures we’re seeing for 2022, the trend will probably continue to 2023 and bring us back to where we were in 2020”.
