Operation to combat crime paying dividends

A garda operation launched to combat the surge in burglaries in the region appears to be netting results with latest crime figures showing a decrease in burglaries in the Meath Division for the first quarter of this year. Figures released by the Central Statistic Office (CSO) on recorded crime for the first quarter of 2012 show there were 333 burglary and related offences in the county during the three-month period, which was a drop of 16.5 per cent on the previous quarter, when 399 such offences were recorded. While the first quarter of 2012 has shown a decrease on the previous quarter, the number of burglary offences in the first three months of this year was up by 20 per cent in the county compared to the same period last year. Superintendent Michael Devine of Navan Garda Station said that a lot of work had gone into a special operation concerning the prevention of burglaries. He said that 'Operation Obair' was in place throughout the region and involves a series of checkpoints at different times. "It has been very effective in our own patch in Navan where we are bucking the trend of other areas," he said. To read the full story see this week's Meath Chronicle