National Police Chief: Economy situation triggers rise in crime

National Police Chief Khatia Dekanoidze says that a 23% rise in crime is connected with the economic situation in the country and social provision of citizens. 

“Statistics shows a 23% rise in crime. But I’d like to say that I have never considered statistics to be the indicators of work of law enforcement system, as the post-Soviet countries had great experience in manipulating the statistics data. The rise in crime rate depends on the economic situation in the country and social security, unemployment level,” she said at a meeting of the Interior Ministry on Thursday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

According to her, among most common crimes are robbery, fraud and car theft. Generally, unemployed people commit crimes. Also, according to the National Police chief, a large flow of weapons from the ATO zone contributed to the increase in crimes. In addition, 10% of those released under a so-called “Savchenko law” committed crimes repeatedly.

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