Slovak Police Recorded 66,215 Crimes Last Year

Bratislava, January 15 (TASR) – A total of 66,215 crimes were committed in Slovakia in 2017, while the police’s success rate in resolving individual crimes increased to almost 58.7 percent, Interior Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) and Police Corps president Tibor Gaspar stated at a press conference on Monday, concurring that the figures represent Slovakia’s new best since the country’s independence in 1993.

“This is the smallest number of crimes and the highest number of resolved cases… From my point of view, not only is it important that criminal activity is falling, but also that we are successful in seizing the perpetrators,” said Kalinak. In 2016, as many as 69,635 crimes were registered in Slovakia, with the police identifying the offenders in almost 57 percent of cases.

According to Gaspar, the long-term drop in the number of crimes can be partly attributed to various preventive measures and activities carried out by the police.

“We calculated the number of crimes per 1,000 inhabitants within districts in Slovakia, with Banovce nad Bebravou [Trencin region] and Dolny Kubin [Zilina region] districts being the safest. Conversely, the most dangerous districts were Bratislava I, II and III, which is logical, as there is the highest number of people who don’t live in Bratislava in terms of permanent residence,” said Gaspar, adding that based on the calculations, around one crime per 1,000 inhabitants took place on average in Slovakia.

As for violent crimes, a total of 6,132 cases were recorded in 2017, while the police managed to resolve 76.2 percent of them. There were 57 murders, of which 39 were resolved.

Regarding property crimes, such as thefts, there were 25,154 of such cases in 2017, while the success rate in resolving them reached 41.6 percent.

The police want to continue reducing the crime rate in Slovakia also in 2018. According to Gaspar, the police could manage to successfully resolve 60 percent of individual crimes.