Costa crime rates lowest in 10 years
Alicante province overall crime levels drops to lowest since 2007
THE OVERALL crime rate in Alicante province has dropped to the lowest in 10 years, according to the final 2017 crime report issued by the Ministry for the Interior this week.
The most serious crimes, homicides and attempted murders, have dropped by 37.5% and 52.8% respectively.
Drug trafficking crimes have also fallen by 11.1% throughout the province.
Car theft is another crime that has been committed far less in the past year. The overall figure has dropped by 18.3% from 2,041 cases reported in 2016 to 1,667 last year.
Break-ins in private prop- erties and commercial establishments have also dropped considerably from 10,762 in 2016 to 9,579 in 2017.
Only three cases of kidnapping were reported last year.
Pickpocketing and theft of personal belongings without intimidation have dropped by 5.5%, although 29,860 of such crimes were reported last year.
However, not all crimes have dropped.
Sexual crimes (not including rape) have increased by 9.9%, with 614 cases reported in 2017. Rape cases dropped by 11.5%, with 54 reported last year.
Sexual harassment crimes have also increased by 13.2%, with 456 cases reported in 2017.
Overall, the provincial crime rate has dropped by 1.1%, which although it seems small, actually takes the overall tally of crimes committed per 1,000 residents to 49.5, compared with 69.4 in 2016.
Breaking down the figures per town, Benidorm's crime rate has dropped by 3.1%, while Dénia's figures have increased by 1.9%.