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The number of criminal offenses reached a new low last year with just over five million offences.
As can be seen from the police crime statistics (PKS) for 2021, officials recorded fewer crimes for the fifth year in a row.
With a decrease of 4.9 percent compared to the previous year, the development was even clearer this time than in the corona year 2020. The number of registered violent crimes also fell significantly by 6.8 percent compared to the previous year.
At the same time, there was a new high with a clear-up rate of 58.7 percent.
In the case of sexual abuse of children, Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD), on the other hand, spoke of an “appalling extent”, according to which the number of cases rose by 6.3 percent.
According to statistics, the number of cases in which depictions of sexual abuse of children were disseminated has more than doubled.
This is also due to the fact that more crimes have been discovered, said Faeser.
However, this should not be put into perspective - protecting children has the highest priority.
Faeser announced that the teams investigating in the area would be further strengthened.
Many tips came from the USA, said the President of the Federal Criminal Police Office, Holger Münch.
Step by step, the true extent of crime can be seen.
It is already foreseeable that the number of cases recorded will continue to rise.
As the report shows, the trend is also due to children and young people – often without knowing that this is forbidden – sharing child and young adult pornographic images in group chats and thus spreading them, for example via WhatsApp, Instagram or Snapchat.
Thefts are also falling thanks to Corona
Overall, the registered cases of cybercrime increased by 12.1 percent.
In this context, Münch spoke of a “structural change” in crime, which accelerated again during the pandemic.
In contrast to theft or burglary, for example, cybercrime is reported extremely rarely.
"We will have to make great efforts to keep up."
The PKS is published every year - and it is also criticized every year because it is said to be hardly meaningful.
The PKS only measures crimes that are either reported or discovered through its own control activities.
Because it is unclear how many offenses are not reported in the first place, the PKS numbers do not allow any clear conclusions to be drawn about the actual crime rate.
According to studies, bodily harm, among other things, is reported less frequently than car theft and burglary, for example, because those affected need to file a criminal complaint for their insurance.
Nevertheless, the number of registered thefts fell by around twelve percent and that of burglaries by almost 28 percent.
The chairman of the conference of interior ministers, Bavaria's head of department Joachim Herrmann (CSU), cited the pandemic as the reason for the falling numbers.
Accordingly, shops closed in lockdown would have made shoplifting impossible.
In addition, burglars were deterred by the fact that many people were in the home office.
According to the report, robbery offenses also fell by around eleven percent and crimes against the gun law by twelve and a half percent.
“It is now paying off that the federal and state police have been strengthened in recent years,” said Faeser.
The number of recorded drug offenses also fell by 1.3 percent.
However, the development differed depending on the drug, with heroin, cocaine and crack as well as LSD being used by the police authorities.
apr/hba/AFP/dpa
