Gardai in the Shannonside region have noted a significant increase in the number of fraud offences in the last 12 months.
New CSO crime figures for the first quarter of this year showed a significant fall in the number of burglaries, theft and robbery in the year to March.
The impact of Covid 19 on local crime has been laid bare in the latest crime figures for each Garda division compiled by the CSO.
According to the figures, Sligo-Leitrim Gardai recorded a rise in sexual offences year on year- increasing from 13 in quarter one last year to 17 in the first three months of this year.
Drug driving offences rose from 13 to 22.
Two incidents of alleged abduction of a person under the age of 16 were reported this year, and one blackmail or extortion offence was also recorded this year.
Year on year detections of burglary dropped from 62 to 28 while theft offences have almost halved as well - from 173 to 91 incidents.
Fraud or deception offences did increase - from 42 to 78 but due to the Covid pandemic and the lack of activity in pubs or nightclubs, public order offences in the north west Garda division are down, from 144 to 110.
Sexual offences in Roscommon-Longford also increased- from 11 to 18 year on year.
There was also a significant increase in the number of threat to murder offences - rising from 3 to 14, year on year.
Drug driving dropped from 40 incidents to just 14 - and burglary dropped from 42 detections to just 18. Theft offences were also down from 145 to 81 .
Fraud offences are up significantly - from 19 in Quarter One 2020 to 60 in the same time period this year. Controlled drug offences also doubled in Roscommon - Longford from 61 to 143 with 119 offences of drugs for personal use detected.
Nationally, just under 10,500 offences were recorded for breaches of Covid 19 restrictions in the first quarter of this year.
