Kildare Garda numbers rise sharply

After years in the doldrums, the number of Gardai stationed in Kildare has begun to rise significantly in the past two years.

In 2014, there were 301 in the county, down from 325 as recently as 2010.

But latest figures show that show increases every year since then, to 321 in 2016, 330 in May of this year and now 342.

A common complaint from many politicians and Gardai themselves over the years, since the beginning of the recession, Kildare has had the worst ratio of citizens to Gardai in the state. 

A austerity moratorium imposed in 2009 didn’t help matters. 

The increase comes at a time of increased crime figures across most categories. However, speaking at the meeting of Kildare Joint Policing Committee on Monday, September 11 Chief Superintendent Gerard Roche explained that increased Garda numbers would lead to greater detection of crime,.

For instance, detection of robberies currently sits at 70%.

We’ll have more details of the crime figures later.

Read more: Renewed call for more Garda resources in Kildare

Read more: Kildare Garda numbers back to 2010 levels