The Northern Ireland Office today released the findings of an organised crime bulletin which revealed that more than half of those surveyed would not report a crime to the police.

The Research and Statistical Bulletin 4/2002, entitled 'Views on Organised Crime in Northern Ireland: Findings from the January 2002 Northern Ireland Omnibus Survey', found that 52% of those surveyed would not report someone if they knew they were associated with organised crime.

The findings also revealed that proportionately, more Protestants (54%) than Catholics (41%) said that they would report someone if they knew they were associated with organised crime.

The Bulletin is based on an analysis of four questions that were included in the January 2002 Northern Ireland Omnibus Survey, a personal interview survey of 1,142 adults living in private households throughout Northern Ireland.

The research was undertaken to provide baseline figures for the Organised Crime Task Force – which was created in September 2000 by the then Secretary of State, Peter Mandelson – with the aim of providing strategic direction towards tackling organised crime in Northern Ireland.

Of those surveyed, almost three quarters (74%) said that they associated drug dealing with organised crime in Northern Ireland. Around 40% said protection racketeering and 33% said trading in counterfeit goods.

Respondents from the east of Northern Ireland were the most likely to say that they would report someone if they knew they were associated with organised crime.

With an organised crime group defined as a group of three or more individuals involved in serious illegal activities in order to generate substantial profit or gain, in March 2001, the Task Force published its first threat assessment which identified 78 organised crime groups involving some 400 individuals, of which about half the groups listed were linked to paramilitaries.

The second threat assessment was published in May 2002 and the findings were broadly similar to those of the previous assessment. This time, 76 organised crime groups involving 380 individuals were identified.

The Northern Ireland Omnibus Survey is conducted several times each year by the Central Survey Unit of the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency and is designed to provide a snapshot of the behaviour, lifestyle and views of a representative sample of people in Northern Ireland.

Following a recent meeting of the North Fermanagh Policing Forum, two UUP MLAs claimed "rural areas have become a paradise for criminals".

Joan Carson and Sam Foster, who are both stepping down as MLAs for Fermanagh South Tyrone, blamed the policing reforms for a loss of experienced police officers which had adversely affected crime detection.

(GMcG)