This article is from page 11 of the 2010-03-02 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 11 JPG
CALLS have been made for a garda drug unit to be set up in each garda district in Clare, in the wake of fig- ures showing the number of drug of- fences in the county increased by 10 per cent in 2008.
CSO figures published last week show that there were 394 controlled drug offences in 2008; an increase on 357 in the previous year. The de- tection rate for these type of offences was high, at 99.2 per cent in 2008, oyenlorTaere Malem roRon oo) mene TAL ONE Of the 394 offences, proceedings were taken in 282.
Reacting to the figures, Fine Gael Councillor Martin Conway said it showed that the drugs issue was prevalent in the county.
“We have seen the proliferation of head shops throughout Ireland, including Clare. It shows that abuse
is rampant from north Clare right through to west Clare. Drugs destroy the lives of young people,” he said. A divisional drugs unit is attached to Ennis Garda Station and a unit was set up at Shannon Garda Sta- tion last year. Cllr Conway believes that similar units should be set up in the districts of Ennistymon, Kilrush and Killaloe, in an effort to curb the growth in the use of illegal drugs. “Each district needs a dedicated drugs unit. The figures prove that drugs are widely and regularly avail- able in Clare and we need to address that urgently,” said Cllr Conway. Meanwhile, the figures show that detection rates in Clare were high for robbery and public order offences. However, they were lower in offences of arson, criminal damage, car thefts and burglaries. While the number of cases of arson increased in 2008 – from 44 to 78 – the detection rate
remained low. It stood at just 19.2 per cent in 2008, compared with 11.4 per cent during the previous year. Just 26.5 per cent of the 845 criminal damage cases were detected in 2008. Only 85 of those were followed by court proceedings.
The figures also reveal that the number of assaults in Clare jumped by 50 per cent in 2008; from 215 to 322. However, several of those cases do not end up in court, as proceed- ings were issued in just 99 cases. In relation to more serious assaults, the figure for 2008 was on a par with that of 2007. There were 68 in 2008 and 69 during the previous year. The vast majority were detected by gardai.
The number of harassment cases increased from 75 to 96. While 31 per cent were detected, just two made their way to court.