Crime fell to record lows in 2014

Last year was the safest year for Slovakia ever since the country became an independent state in 1993, Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák said on Tuesday in reference to figures regarding the crime rate and solved crimes. "The results bring us closer to the pre-1989 period", said Kaliňák, who appeared at a joint press conference alongside Police Corps President Tibor Gašpar and first Vice-president Milan Lučanský. While 193,000 crimes were recorded back in 1993, the number was down to 81,245 in 2014. This also represents a drop of over 8,000 crimes year-on-year. "I'd like to point out that the annual fall from 2013 is very significant", said Gašpar. The crime rate was down in all categories. The recorded and solved violent crimes dropped from 6,003 in 2013 to 5,637 last year. Murders were down from 78 to 72, which is the lowest number in the country's history, and even that figure includes older cases that weren't solved until 2014. "In fact, there were 54 murders in Slovakia in 2014, which ranks us among the safest countries", said Kaliňák. Slovakia is therefore coming close to one murder per 100,000 inhabitants. As well, the number of robberies shrank from 836 to 680. Fifteen of the murders involved a firearm, while an explosive was used in one case - when the moving car of Žiar nad Hronom (Banská Bystrica region) councillor and lawyer Marek Rakovský blew up in the town's centre in July 2013. The crime was solved in 2014. Property-related crimes were also down - from 38,750 to 34,301. Burglaries dropped from 11,167 to 9,427 and vehicle thefts decreased from 2,431 to 2,297. Economic crimes went from 19,218 to 17,450, tax evasion crimes went from 6,053 to 5,739. The rate of crimes solved rose from 54.33 percent to 55.84 percent year on year.