Crime rate in Slovakia lowest since independence

The crime rate in Slovakia fell again on an annual basis in 2016, said Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák, Police Corps president Tibor Gašpar and first police vice-president Jaroslav Málik at a press conference on Monday. As they added this time it fell by 5 percent, while the police's success rate in resolving individual crimes improved. A total of over 69,600 crimes were registered in Slovakia last year, with the police identifying the offenders in almost 57 percent of cases. Kaliňák noted that both these figures represented a new best since Slovakia became independent in 1993. With property crimes, such as thefts, becoming rarer again last year, the police focused more on 'latent crimes', such as tax fraud and domestic violence. The crime map didn't change much in 2016, with Bratislava and Košice regions having the highest crime figures. One interesting fact is that while the police's success in identifying the perpetrators of individual crimes in Bratislava stood at a mere 10 percent in the mid-2000s, the figure has improved to 49 percent in the meantime, noted Kaliňák. According to first police vice-president Jaroslav Málik, the improvement in terms of security should be viewed in the context of Slovakia's EU Council Presidency in the second half of 2016, which necessarily required tighter security measures.