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THERE was a rise in crime overall in the county in the first three months of this year compared to the same period in 2018.
Kerry Garda Division Chief Superintendent, Eileen Foster, was attending her first Joint Policing Committee meeting in Kerry County Council on Friday where she gave a rundown of crime figures for January 1 to March 31, 2018.
It showed a rise in the categories of Property Crime (11%), Crimes Against The Person (27%) and Drugs and Offensive Weapons (55%) and a slight drop (2%) in Criminal Damage and Public Order.
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There were 53 burglaries reported compared to 70 in the same period of 2018, a drop of 24% and no aggravated burglaries compared to one the previous year.
There were no thefts or unauthorised takings of vehicles compared to 17 in the same period last year, but thefts from vehicles was up from 26 to 32, a 23% rise. Thefts from shops were up 28% and theft of other property up 32%.
Assaults causing harm fell by 25% from 40 last year to 30 in January to March this year. Minor assaults were well up, from 74 in Jan-Mar 2018 to 130 in the same period this year, a rise of 76%.
Chief Supt Foster said the rise in the nighttime economy and the increasing tendency that people will report this type of crime contributed towards this increase.
There were 100 cases of criminal damage in the first three months compared to 90 in Jan-Mar 2018, a rise of 11%. Public order and drunkenness offences both decreased by 9% and 2% respectively.
Possession of offensive weapons was the same as in 2018 (10), but possession of drugs for sale or supply increased by 25% from 20 to 25. Possession of drugs for personal use detections rose by 70%, from 97 to 165. Intoxicated while driving cases were up 16% on the same period in 2018, from 77 to 89.
