Over 120 persons accused of severe crimes have been arrested in Ireland during the first six months of this year, through Europe’s Schengen Information System (SIS II) data.
Such a system was implemented in Ireland earlier this year in order to increase the security in the country’s borders, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
According to the figures published by the Irish examiner, this year’s figures have marked a significant increase compared to last year statistics, while many persons involved in many crimes across the European countries, including drug trafficking and sexual assault, burglary, have been arrested.
Based on the same source, a total of 74 persons have been arrested in the first six months of this year, after the police authorities used the new system.
In addition, another 52 persons have been arrested on endorsed European Arrest Warrants (EAW) thanks to the SIS II.
In this regard, Ireland’s Minister of Justice, Heather Humphreys, has stressed that the country has made good progress by joining the European database.
“These numbers demonstrate the positive impact SIS II has had on the investigation of trans-European crime to date, with a significant increase in the number of arrests for a large number of crime types,” the Minister pointed out.
According to the Garda Commissioner in Ireland, Drew Harris, the implementation of the system has “opened up a rapid information exchange gateway for gardaí and police services” in Europe.
“Since its introduction in this State six months ago, SIS II has enabled An Garda Síochána and its Gardaí on patrol to access and share real-time police data and intelligence in the live environment, resulting in approximately 126 arrests relating to incidents of serious criminality across the EU. The successes of SIS II have already been many, and the benefits of the system to the State and policing in Ireland for the benefit of all citizens cannot be overstated,” Harris pointed out.
The Schengen Information System (SIS II) is a centralized, secure database system used by countries in Europe in order to maintain detailed information regarding border security and law enforcement.
Previously, SchengenVisaInfo.com reported that Ireland successfully accessed the Schengen Information System (SISI II) on March 15, 2021, after the Council of the European Union approved the request of Ireland’s authorities to become part of such a system on December 10, 2020.
The Schengen Information system is very used in order to control public security in Europe, which permits law enforcement agencies to control and share data on missing and wanted persons, as well as those objects or vehicles that have been lost or stolen.