Five thousand held in burglary crackdown
Almost 5,000 suspects have been arrested in just over a year in a nationwide operation targeting burglaries.
As official figures confirmed a huge surge in break-ins since the economic collapse, Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan said the force was having “phenomenal” success against gangs behind the crime wave.
There has been more than 2,700 people before the courts as a result of Operation Fiacla.
“That’s a phenomenal success,” said Mr Callinan.
The operation was set up in February last year to combat the rise in burglaries around the country.
Speaking at the Garda Representative Association (GRA) annual conference, Mr Callinan said the force would use strategies other than high-speed car pursuits to bring burglars to justice.
“I don’t think the answer is racing up and down the country behind these high-powered vehicles (used by gangs),” he said.
“Because number one we are endangering our own members, we are also endangering the people we are chasing and members of the public alike.”
Mr Callinan was responding to complaints by rank-and-file gardai over the capability of the Garda fleet to chase gangsters in powerful cars.
A Central Statistics Office report revealed burglaries were up 17% between 2007 and 2011, while less than a quarter of all burglaries were solved in 2011.
