Huge rise in theft of electric scooters across city

A SPIKE in the theft of electric scooters has been reported in the Clondalkin and Lucan policing districts.

According to gardai in Ronanstown, unauthorised taking of vehicles are up 144 per cent between October to December 2021 – with 22 cases reported, compared to just nine in the corresponding period 2020.

Lucan has an 83 per cent increase in vehicle theft with 11 cases for the same period.

Electric scooters are classed as mechanically propelled vehicles and included in the statistics for the taking of unauthorised vehicles.

Speaking at the JPC Policing Meeting this week, Blanchardstown Chief Superintendent Finbarr Murphy said when they looked into the cases in Ronanstown, they discovered a lot of it was to do with electric scooters.

“For the purposes of statistics, they are mechanically propelled vehicles and they get recorded, not as theft of a bicycle or theft of a scooter, but as an unauthorised taking of a vehicle.

“Across the whole of Dublin city, we have seen a huge rise in that.”

In December, four youths were arrested by gardai in the Clondalkin district, for possession of a stolen scooter along the Grand Canal.

In light of the murder of Ashling Murphy in Tullamore, Cllr Eoin O’Broin (SocDems) asked gardai how the canal is policed with regard to CCTV and tannoy speakers.

The garda response was that they are “conscious of the association of canals as public amenities and the terrible fate that resulted in the death of Ashling Murphy.”

Gardai say Operation Thoroughfare continues and high visibility patrols will increase to reassure users of the canal in the Dublin 10 and 22 areas.

They said progress has been made with South Dublin County Council in formulating the existing CCTV which will facilitate access to real time monitoring by local gardai.