The Policing Authority has said that the latest CSO crime statistics confirm its concerns about the reliability of detection figures, and data quality more generally.

The CSO release on recorded crime detection data are the first since 2016, when statistics relating to 2014 were published.

This data is released ‘under reservation’, to reflect the fact that there are data-quality issues in the underlying sources used to compile the statistics.

Suspected offender

For a crime to be marked as ‘detected’, the CSO says at least one suspected offender must be identified and sanctioned.

The CSO figures are based on data recorded by An Garda Síochána on its PULSE (Police Using Leading Systems Effectively) and FCPS (Fixed-charge Penalty System) databases.

The Policing Authority says that the level of detections across all featured crime categories is a significant source of concern that must be urgently addressed.

“This publication provides a snapshot of the extent to which crimes reported to the Garda Síochána in 2018 have been detected, and demonstrates a marked improvement in Garda practice in relation to how detections are recorded in 2018 compared to 2014,” the Policing Authority statement says.

Caution

In February 2018, the Garda Síochána introduced a new method for recording detections. An incident is now automatically marked as ‘detected’ only when a charge, summons or caution has been issued.

Summons

In 2014, a total of 18% of suspected offenders were claimed as ‘detected’, but no corresponding charge or summons record could be identified. In 2018, this practice has dropped to 1.4%, which is positive, according to the Policing Authority.

It wants a “sound baseline” to measure policing performance, and says it will continue to monitor the implementation of the new Garda Síochána detections improvement plan – and its effect on detections figures.