THE NUMBER of crimes in County Roscommon fell by 36 percent over the past year, according to Chief Superintendent Padraig Rattigan.

The Chief Superintendent was speaking at a public meeting of the Joint Policing Committee last week where he outlined in detail the number of incidents dealt with by Gardai over the past year.

With the exception of burglaries, crime levels fell across all areas in County Roscommon, which he said remained a very peaceful place to live.

The total number of incidents dealt with by Gardai between January and the end of September this year was 2,467 compared to 3,864 during the same period last year, representing a fall of 36 percent over the past year.

“There are issues everywhere with drugs, alcohol, and crime but County Roscommon in my view is a very peaceful place to live overall,” the Chief Superintendent said.

Despite station closures, cutbacks and less Gardai, he said that the division continued to provide a good service and maintain good contact with members of the public on the ground.

The Chief Superintendent said that crime detection rates in County Roscommon were one of the highest in the country. but he also appealed for members of the public to continue to assist Gardai by reporting any suspicious activities in their areas.

He also urged more communities to set up or reactivate community alert and text alert schemes in their areas to assist Gardai in their work.

Chairperson of the Joint Policing Committee Cllr Tom Crosby also noted that the text alert system was working well and was a prime example of how communities could work with Gardai to reduce crime in their area.

He encouraged other communities to take the system on board and advised that the JPC could assist communities in setting up the text alert system.

Number of drugs offences has almost halved in past year

THE NUMBER of drugs offences recorded in County Roscommon almost halved over the past year, with new figures showing that cannabis remains the most widely used drug.

Figured furnished by Chief Superintendent Padraig Rattigan at a public meeting of the Joint Policing Committee last week revealed a significant fall in the number of drugs offences recorded in the county.

A total of 56 drugs offences were recorded in the county between January and September this year, almost half of that recorded during the same period in 2011 (102).

An analysis of the offences also showed that cannabis was the drug of choice with 61 percent of offences involving cannabis. Just seven percent involved cocaine, while the remaining 32 percent involved other drugs such as heroin, ecstasy or ampheta-Chief Superintendent Rattigan said that the dedicated divisional unit based in Roscommon worked with other groups, such as customs and the prison service, to target drugs crime and that figures for this year showed a reduction in offences for simple possession, possession with intent to supply and the cultivation of cannabis.

The number of offences for simple possession fell by 17 percent across the county this year, down from 48 in 2011 to 40 offences this year, with the greatest decrease recorded in the Boyle area (down from 16 offences in 2011 to six this year).

The number of offences for possession with intent to supply fell by 22 percent, down from 18 in 2011 to 14 this year.

The number of offences for cultivating cannabis was also down this year compared to 2011.