Overall crime in the Armagh and Cusher DEA is down by more than 20% with figures for burglaries, drug-related offences and anti-social behaviour following the downward trend.
The figures were provided at an Armagh/Cusher Policing and Community Safety Partnership (PCSP) meeting held in Keady on Thursday evening.
The community engagement meeting overall was largely positive as a result and police took the opportunity to reinforce the importance of security measures with the public and put strong emphasis on the benefits of reporting any suspicious behaviour.
Sergeant Callum Cordner of the Neighbourhood Policing Team led the update by stating that “thankfully the total crime for Armagh – which is encompassing all the wards – is down 22.5% since the last meeting and that is taking in burglaries, residential burglaries and anti-social behaviour”.
He explained that burglaries in the last 12 months are down 11% and over 60s burglaries are down by nearly 40%. Anti-social behaviour is down by nearly 10% for the Armagh district.
In the Cusher ward, the overall crime rate is down 17.5%, burglaries are down 5% and over 60s burglaries are down by 33.5%. Anti-social behaviour was also down by 5%.
In regards to drug-related offences, Sergeant Cordner added: “We have had less drug arrests and that’s been due to the fact we have less drug incidents reported in the district over the last 12 months.
“For January 2023 to December 2023 we had 706 reports and then from January 2024 to December 2024 we had 589.
“It’s good that we have had a decrease in that because most of those drug incidents are coming from police detections.
“We have actually increased our number of searches over the last six months and have done somewhere in the region of 15 warrant-led searches and those have all come from community intelligence.”
The Sergeant’s statement paints a much more positive picture to that of the PSCP meeting two years prior where drugs were cited as a “massive issue” across the borough.
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A member of the public queried whether many drugs were being seized from properties in the area and requested information about the types of drugs obtained.
The Sergeant explained: “It varies between searches and for police to check a property they require good intelligence that there would be something there. I would say in well over half the searches they would find some quantity of drugs.
“We see mostly Class B and Class A including cocaine which is the most prevalent among Class A, and cannabis the most common Class C. We are seeing quite a lot of prescription drugs which are being bought online including pregabalin and diazepam.”
He was pleased to report, however, that no drug-related deaths have occurred in the district since the last meeting.
At this juncture Sergeant Cordner, who was joined by Ward Officer Constable Thompson, stressed the importance of reporting suspicious activity.
Both officers agreed that community intelligence was vital in helping police to combat crime, and each spoke to the importance of this in relation to burglary.
“These are the types of things we are asking the community to call in about,” said Sergeant Cordner. “If you see a suspicious car or individual, please let us know. We hear people saying time and time again, ‘I didn’t want to bother the police, you’re too busy’. We are never too busy.”
Constable Thompson moved on to discuss the importance of staying vigilant when dealing with cold callers.
He said: “Cold callers can be legitimate but you never know if it is someone coming to the house to see what security measures you have, whether you live alone, whether you have a dog that will bark, if you have lights, how many cars are at the house, who you are with, and that’s what they are looking for – to see how vulnerable you are.
“Be careful opening the door to speak to them that you’re not distracted and have a chain on the door if you can, or use a door stop. Any barrier you can put in their way is helpful.”
PCSP Manager, Patricia Gibson – who supported the facilitation the meeting – highlighted the use of ‘No Cold Caller’ signage to deter illegitimate callers adding: “If a legitimate cold caller is confronted with that they shouldn’t call. If someone ignores this sign it could be those people that police are interested in.”
