Estonian law enforcement agencies registered 22,919 offenses in the first seven months of the year, which marks a 3 percent decline compared to the same period of the previous year, while the number of manslaughters and murders was the smallest since reindependence, it appears from the crime barometer figures released by the Justice Ministry on Tuesday.
A continued upward trend was recorded in frauds, but registration of thefts and robberies decreased. «The number of thefts has steadily declined since 2009. Compared with the figures for the first seven months of the previous year, the number of thefts was down by a tenth. A decrease has occurred in theft from trade enterprises as well as from vehicles and dwellings,» Justice Minister Hanno Pevkur said.
Traffic offenses dropped 4 percent mostly on account of a decline in drunk driving. The number of registered frauds meanwhile soared by 31 percent. Many cases concerned cheating mobile operators out of cell phones and numerous episodes of non-delivery of goods purchased online also were registered.
The number of physical abuse episodes increased by 7 percent. Grave offenses against person, or manslaughters and murders, numbered 37, six fewer than in the first seven months of 2012 and the smallest number since the restoration of independence in 1991.
A rise in the level of crime was recorded in five counties out of 15 - Harju, Laane, Rapla, West-Viru and Voru.