Gardaí in Donegal have found they are turning their focus to new areas of crime since the pandemic.
Chief Superintendent Terry McGinn told the Joint Policing Committee that “the trends in crime are changing”, with the prevailing issues now being domestic violence, sexual assault and drugs.
Chief Supt McGinn said there has been a major increase in domestic violence and sexual assaults.
“It is an area that we ensure we keep in touch with the victims in terms of encouraging them to come forward and making a statement and encouraging them to court to take out orders to protect themselves,” she said.
“It’s taking a major focus on our attention.”
Another area to be prioritised by gardaí in 2022 is drug offences. Chief Supt McGinn said: “We find there is an increase in drugs. There are a lot of reports coming in from parents. It’s an area we are going to focus on majorly going forward in the 2022 plan.”
The meeting also heard that drug driving offences have increased during the pandemic. “There seems to be a major increase which we are hoping to target going forward into the next year,” Chief Supt McGinn said.
