Property crime decrease recorded in Laois

Laois recorded a reduction in burglary and thefts from shops in recent months.  

The change in property crime in Laois indicates a 12% drop in burglaries and, contrary to national trends, a 38% decline in theft from shops. 

The figures were revealed at the latest Laois Joint Policing Committee meeting where Chief Superintendent Anthony Lonergan compared figures from April, May and June in 2022 to the same period in 2023. 

They showed there had been 37 burglaries during the three months compared to 42 in the same three months last year. There were 98 thefts from shops compared to 158 during the same period in 2022.  

Meanwhile, Chief Supt Lonergan said while theft from vehicles was down by 4%, he believed there was an opportunity to improve the figures.

He said Laois Offaly Garda Crime Prevention Officer Sergeant Graham Kavanagh is doing great work. 

“Really we are just going to focus on doing pieces around awareness on that, just people leaving stuff in cars etc. It mainly refers to the Portlaoise area when one digs down into it,” he said. 

Chief Supt Lonergan said “I will be delving down to see what patterns and trends are telling us”. He said the Garda response will be very much data driven. 

The data revealed there had been a 42% increase in the theft of vehicles with 19 having been stolen compared to 14 in the same three months in 2022.  The theft of bicycles was down 75% from eight in 2022 to two this year. 

In total there were 244 property crimes recorded in Laois in the three months in 2023, a 29% reduction compared to 347 for the same period last year.