Press Statement Review of the Quality of Recorded Crime Statistics 2023

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (25 October 2023) released its Review of the Quality of Recorded Crime Statistics 2023.

The CSO compiles and publishes Recorded Crime Statistics for Ireland. Recorded Crime Statistics are intended to inform users about the set of criminal offences which are reported to, or become known to, An Garda Síochána (AGS). Since March 2018, the CSO has categorised the recorded crime data, exclusively based on data received from the AGS PULSE system, as “Under Reservation”. This was done to inform users of issues relating to the underlying quality of the data, as first highlighted in the 2014 Police Inspectorate report and in four subsequent CSO quality reviews.

The CSO is today announcing the lifting of this reservation as part of its fifth review of the quality of recorded crime data. The CSO will continue to inform users of the quality of the data they are using, and of any particular issues which may need to be noted around time series comparability as they arise. 

Commenting on the decision, Jim Dalton, Statistician in the Crime and Criminal Justice Section of the CSO, said: “Over the past number of years, An Garda Síochána (AGS) has worked to advance the assurance levels which can be provided around PULSE data with the CSO providing guidance on appropriate quality measures.

Users can have confidence that the risks to data quality are known to AGS, and enhanced controls are now in place to help manage those risks. Some of these new measures include:

• The development and implementation of a more formal data quality management system for PULSE that supports fit-for-purpose crime data. This was developed throughout 2022 and 2023, and culminated in quality checking and the publishing of those results, with a focus on risk management.
• An independent review commissioned by AGS which found evidence of good controls for the acknowledged risks to data collection and quality.
• The appointment in November 2019 of a senior manager within AGS who has overall responsibility for data quality.
• The provision by AGS of a comprehensive and publicly available document explaining how crime is recorded as of 2020.

Additionally, AGS is conducting a range of quality checks with associated reporting of same, which transparently build assurance in the use of this important societal information.

A key CSO recommendation from previous reviews was that a more formal quality management system for PULSE data be implemented by AGS. Such a system has now been put in place to support fit-for-purpose crime data. This review concludes that the Garda PULSE data is fit for official statistics purposes, while also noting the improved data for operational policing purposes.”

A new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the CSO and AGS will shortly be signed by the Director General of the CSO and the Garda Commissioner. This MoU outlines the quality management checking and reporting being done by AGS, which helps to underpin user confidence in the recorded crime data.

The reservation is lifted for recorded crime data disseminated by the CSO from Quarter 1 2023. AGS has worked over the past number of years to advance the assurance levels which can be provided around Garda PULSE data, and in particular the quality management developments of 2022 and 2023. This work has seen the development of quality assurance processes by AGS over the period which has culminated in the implementation of a more formal quality management system by AGS.

The recorded crime series has been progressively improving over time with the cumulative impact of the improved data quality, assessment, and assurance measures being seen in a higher data quality level as noted in various CSO reviews in recent years.

As with all data series, there is never a risk-free data collection process, particularly for something as complex as crime incident recording. However, the CSO has seen a much-enhanced sense within AGS of the risks around PULSE data quality and a recognition around the controls and resources needed to manage those risks. Given the new AGS controls for quality checking and reporting, coupled with the CSO reserving the right to do its own reviews, a level of assurance has been provided warranting the lifting of the "Under Reservation” caveat. 

The CSO and AGS have worked collaboratively over the past number of years and the CSO wishes to thank AGS for its ongoing co-operation and professionalism in dealing with these matters.