Garda chief reports rise in city burglaries

The city continues to be a very safe place to live in with overall crime down for the first nine months of the year – but the rise in burglaries is still a thorn in the side of Garda chiefs.

Burglaries in the city and Salthill areas rose significantly from January through to the end of September, with most of them falling into the ‘opportunist category’ as thieves preyed on unoccupied and poorly protected properties.

This week, Galway’s most senior Garda – Chief Supt. Tom Curley – issued an appeal to all households and the owners of shops and commercial premises to ‘move security up’ on their priority list.

“Most of those break-ins are opportunist. The thieves wait until they know that houses are not occupied and worryingly they are still gaining entry at times through unlocked doors or unsecured windows,” said Chief Supt. Curley.

For the first nine months of the year in the city, burglaries were up by 18% from 310 to 365 while the rate of increase was even more dramatic in the Salthill area – up by 89%, a rise from 64 to 121, as compared to the same period last year.

Apart from burglaries, there was an overall crime drop in Salthill of 12% with assaults, sexual offences and drug dealing all well down – the city area also showed a slight decrease in overall crime levels.

“Of course the increase in burglaries is a source of concern to us but quite simply we’re not in a position to have guards on every street corner,” said Chief Supt Curley.

 For more on this story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune