Rural burglaries still a worry

BY TONY GALVIN GARDAI are having considerable success tackling highly organised gangs that prey on the elderly and vulnerable in rural areas, but there is still concern in many communities that cutbacks in Garda resources will undo what has been achieved and leave some areas more exposed than ever. The scourge of highly mobile marauding gangs combing the countryside for easy targets has been met head on by the Gardai who are tackling the issue on a nationwide basis. This policy has paid dividends, with many serious players now awaiting trial. However, while crime figures in Co Galway are considerably down, the burglary figures are up by over 15 per cent, in line with national trends.[private] The most recent crime figures for rural Co Galway show that, overall, crime is down by an impressive 25 per cent but burglaries are bucking this trend and were up 15.8 per cent in the January to May period. Senior Garda sources are insistent that no areas are being left without adequate cover but point out that methods of policing are changing and this can be difficult for some to understand. Many communities fear the next round of rural Garda station closures, and the publicity generated as a result of the problem of replacing official patrol cars has not helped matters. Typical of the fear that is abroad are moves in Corofin to consider community crime-prevention initiatives in the face of what is being seen locally as the targeting of the area by criminals. Secretary of the Corofin Dr Duggan Hall Committee, Patsy Conway, told The Herald that it was unsettling for people in the village to have to consider installing CCTV and taking other security precautions in the light of recent events. Houses stripped A ghostâ€â€œestate in the village has already been raided, with houses stripped of copper and other valuable building materials. Recently raiders returned and stripped a new house of copper in the Ballintubber area. Just this weekend three double-glazed windows in the community hall were broken and Gardai are investigating whether this was an attempted burglary. There is also concern over boy-racer activity outside the hall. 'We never thought we'd have these sort of issues in Corofin and it's upsetting for the community, especially for elderly people who feel vulnerable. This is especially so as the Garda present in the area seems to have been scaled way back. There's no use talking into the green man on the closed station door when you want help. The community want to feel there is a Garda presence and we want the criminals to feel this too,' he said. The hike in burglaries and raids on homes in rural areas is causing considerable concern for Gardai, with Garda resources, including the allocation of patrol cars, diminishing at a time when the incidence of rural burglaries is rising. Recently concern was expressed in Headford when it became known that there was no longer a patrol car attached to the Garda Station there. The Garda Representative Association (GRA) has called for a review of the policy which has seen a considerable number of patrol cars taken out of use and not replaced. The GRA is concerned that this policy leaves many rural areas exposed to marauding gangs and also puts their members at risk when they attempt to tackle the threat without adequate resources. There is also a worrying suspicion being reported from many different locations around the county that criminals are acting on information supplied by local informants. The suspicion that homes are being targeted for outside gangs to come in and raid is now widespread, and has prompted a renewed interest in Community Alert schemes. The Department of Justice said in a statement that despite current economic difficulties, over 150 new vehicles were introduced into service last year and 40 more have been deployed this year. The 2012 Garda budget provides for more cars to be purchased.[/private]