German crime at record low

– The number of offences in Germany decreased by 4.9% last year and reached a record low since 1992, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said yesterday.

“The number of crimes in Germany is the lowest figure since 1992,” Seehofer said.

The crime detection rate increased and reached 55.7%, according to statistics of the federal ministry of the interior, building and community. The number of politically motivated crimes has gone down after a four-year rise and decreased by 4.9% to 39 500 cases last year.

“A fall in politically motivated crimes is not a reason to relax vigilance,” the minister said.

“A law-governed state must by all means counteract any forms of extremism and terrorism.”

The statistics also showed a decline in domestic burglary and theft, violent crimes and attacks on refugee centres.

Meanwhile, the figures revealed a considerable surge in drug-related crimes – 330 500 cases in 2017, which is 9.2% more than in the previous year.

Arms-related crimes also demonstrated a 10% increase, while anti-Semitic offences were up 2.5%.

The share of crimes committed by German citizens continued to stand at 2017 levels, according to statistics.

According to Seehofer, 1 075 crimes with an Islamophobic background were committed in Germany in 2017.

That was the first year of gathering statistics on the issue, so it is unclear whether Islamophobia is on the rise or on the decline.

The number of crimes targeting Christians in 2017 is much lower than those with an Islamophobic background – only 129.

The number of anti-Semitic crimes has slightly risen in 2017, with 1 504 cases having been registered, which is 2.5% more than the year before. At the same time the number of so-called hate crimes has decreased from 10 750 in 2016 to about 8 000 in 2017. – Sputnik