The overall crime rate in Estonia in the first half of the year was 3 percent lower than a year earlier and there was a marked decline in the number of thefts.
Crime level in Estonia slightly lower than in H1 2012
31st July 2013, 12:45
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Law enforcement agencies registered a total of 19,369 offenses from January to June, 657 fewer than the year before. An 11 percent drop was recorded in thefts which decreased to 7,951 episodes from the year-earlier 8,966. Traffic offenses numbered 1,715, marking a 3 percent fall compared to 1,770 last year, figures released by the Justice Ministry on Tuesday show.
While thefts decreased, the same does not apply to robberies and frauds. The number of robberies grew by 25 in annual comparison to 232 and that of fraud by 258, to 1,096.
Drug-related crime also showed a slight rise this year. Possession of small amounts of narcotics was registered on 58 occasions, four more than last year, and handling of large amounts of illegal drugs increased by 26 episodes, to 383.
The number of offenses against person grew from the year-earlier 3,276 to 3,487 mostly as a result of a bigger number of cases of physical abuse. In the first half of last year 2,591 episodes of physical abuse were registered compared to 2,776 during the same period of this year.
Grave offenses against person, or manslaughters and murders, numbered 32, eight fewer than in the first six months of 2012.