In the Czech Republic, the crime rate fell by 16.9 percent to 165,525 cases last year. Police recorded the decrease in all monitored categories as the number of simple thefts fell by almost a quarter and the number of violent acts by a tenth. Last year, authorities registered 130 homicides, representing 13 fewer year-on-year.
According to Luděk Fiala, director of the Bureau of the Criminal Police and Investigation Service, the crime rate decreased thanks to coronavirus measures, which restricted the movement of people as well as entries from other countries. The amendment to the Czech criminal code also helped to improve the statistics as it raised the limit for evaluating an act as a criminal offense to 10,000 korunas (€383). Previously, the limit was half of this amount.
“However, the last-mentioned factor had only minimal effect on the statistics because the amendment did not enter into force until Oct. 1, 2020,” explained Fiala.
According to the police, the perpetrators caused damage amounting to 22.5 billion korunas (€860.95 million) last year.
According to Police Presidium Spokesman Ondřej Moravčík, the last year’s decline in the crime rate applied to all regions, with Prague reporting the biggest difference as it recorded 38,059 offenses, which amounted to 11,804 less than in 2019.
“Out of all 80 territorial departments, there was an increase in criminal activity only in the Tábor and Prostějov regions. However, in both cases, the increase was quite small,” Moravčík added.
Title image: Demonstrators scuffle with police while protesting the COVID-19 preventative measures downtown Prague, Czech Republic, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020. Coronavirus infections in the Czech Republic have again jumped to record levels amid new restrictive measures imposed by the government to curb the spread. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
