The Government yesterday launched the National Crime Council, the group which has emerged from the year-long national survey of crime in the State.
The council will publish information about crime statistics and trends. A major work on crime trends since the 1950s, which has been assembled by the Department of Criminology at UCD, will be published next month. The council has two researchers and they are compiling work on public order and domestic violence. The information will then be posted on the Internet.
The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, welcomed the launch of the council and said it would make an important contribution to informing the debate on crime. "I have found over the years that there is no shortage of criticism in relation to how the State responds to crime, but practical and possible solutions are few and far between." It was one of his aims, the Minister said, to foster the development of well-informed and meaningful discussion as an important aid to policy-making.
"Increasingly, and rightly, attention is being given not only to those who fall victim to crime but to those who, although not actually victims, nevertheless curtail their activities and alter their routines through fear of crime. "For elderly people, in particular, and to a lesser degree women, the fear of what may await them in their own neighbourhoods - and even their own homes - can cast a long shadow over their quality of life. This problem is all the more difficult to resolve as research tells us that those least at risk of becoming victims often experience the greatest levels of fear.
"I already know what is being done [to tackle crime]. I want to know what else can be done. I hope that the National Crime Council, through its discussion and research, will address some of these issues which I have raised so that a practical and knowledge-based approach to offending and crime prevention can be put forward."
Council chairman Mr Padraic White said its initial focus would be on crime prevention "with a special emphasis on the underlying causes of crime and on practical solutions at community level".
A sub-group under the chairmanship of Judge Michael Reilly had been set up to advance crime prevention. The council had commissioned research into public order offences. This will be published later this year.
The council also took part in a national study on domestic violence and would publish the material this year.
In May it will also publish the most comprehensive analysis of levels and trends of crime in the State. This is based on both recorded data and victim surveys by the criminology department at UCD.
The key roles of the National Crime Council are:
To focus on crime prevention with emphasis on the causes of crime
To develop partnership and practical approaches at community level
To focus on raising awareness and knowledge of crime
To examine the "fear of crime" and address minorities' fears
To identify research priorities which can be commissioned by the Department of Justice.
The council's mandate is:
To be advisory and non-executive in its crime prevention To play a direct public role in increasing knowledge and understanding of crime
To have regard to developments in other jurisdictions to review and identify best practice.