Thefts from shops in Clare more than doubled between January and April of this year.
Members of this county’s Joint Policing Committee have been told that burglaries and domestic disputes are also on the rise here.
The quarterly meeting of the JPC has heard crime in Clare was a bit of a mixed bag in the first four months of the year, with some areas falling and others spiking significantly.
Sale and supply of drugs and simple possession offences both fell, though Chief Superintendent Seán Colleran told the meeting the detections that were made here were “significant”.
Speeding offences fell between January and April, as did economic crime detections, which had caused concern when they seemingly spiked towards the end of 2021.
However, the number of thefts in shops more than doubled between January and April in Clare compared to this time last year.
113 such offences were detected by the Clare Garda Division, compared to 55 in the same time period in 2021.
Burglaries also went up by 90% here, with driving under the influence detections increasing by 58%.
Domestic disputes with no offence recorded rose by a third, while sexual offences also saw a slight rise.
The meeting also heard widespread praise for Ennis Gardai following the two recent Munster senior hurling championship matches at Cusack Park.
The Chief Superintendent also committed to ensuring operations will be put in place in West Clare to cater for tourism demands this summer, with managing resources across the county again cited as a sticking point here in the short and long term.
