Highlights new Garda Operating Model and work in Department to update laws on hate crime
The Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee TD, has welcomed today’s publication by the Central Statistics Office of the Crime and Victimisation Survey 2019. Interviews for the survey were carried out over the course of half a year between April and October 2019 and asked respondents to rate their response to a series of questions relating to the impact that crime had on their lives in the preceding 12 months and their opinions on how effectively crime is dealt with in Ireland.
Minister McEntee said:
Official recorded crime statistics can only give us a limited picture of people’s experience of crime within our communities, given their reliance on crimes actually reported to Gardaí. Combining them with the Crime and Victimisation Survey helps build a more rounded picture of the public’s experience of crime, allowing us to further identify and analyse ongoing crime trends and concerns across Ireland and providing a very valuable insight for future policy making.
The Minister noted particular concern with regard to the number of female respondents who said they felt a little unsafe (22%) or very unsafe (14%) walking within their locality at night.
The Minister said:
These figures indicate that women are almost three times more likely than men to feel unsafe walking within their own locality at night. This is a very concerning finding and there is an onus on all of us to ensure people feel safe and secure where they live. An Garda Síochána’s focus on community engagement and outreach to vulnerable groups and individuals throughout the COVID-19 public health emergency has provided reassurance during a time of difficulty, showing the great value of a community-based policing service, while simultaneously continuing normal policing activities to tackle areas such as fraud and deception, organised crime, and drug related crime. This community engagement will be cemented in the new Garda Operating Model which is being rolled out in line with the recommendations of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland and building confidence in communities will be a key aim of this work.
The survey found that 7% of persons aged 18 or over who were victims of personal crime felt that the crime took place because of a personal characteristic of theirs, such as their age, gender or race and that 4% of victims said they felt that the crime had been motivated by their race, religion or ethnicity.
The Minister added:
Targeting any individual on the basis of a personal characteristic is completely unacceptable and the Government has made clear its intention to take further action to tackle hate crime. Following a detailed public consultation held over recent months, my Department is currently finalising detailed proposals on new hate crime and incitement to hatred legislation. It is my intention to submit these proposals to Government as soon as possible.
The Minister concluded by urging all those who have been the victim of crime to report these crimes to Gardaí.
The Minister added:
I am concerned that a large number of respondents did not report all crimes that they were a victim of to An Garda Síochána. I strongly encourage anyone who has been the victim of crime to please contact their local Garda station and report the incident. Alternatively, information can be provided to An Garda Síochána by way of the Garda confidential line, 1800 666 111, which is a monitored freephone line that allows members of the public to contact An Garda Síochána with information of a confidential nature. In particular, I would also remind victims of domestic violence that services are still available to provide quick and crucial support in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic and that details of these supports are available at the website www.stillhere.ie.
It is acknowledged that it can be intimidating or overwhelming for victims to begin the process of dealing with and recovering from their experience. In order to support victims in that process, an updated Victims Charter was published by the Department of Justice in February following a consultative process involving all relevant State agencies, as well as NGOs working with and supporting victims. The Victims Charter is available on the dedicated website www.victimscharter.ie.