Recorded crime drops by 25% in nine years; all types show a decline
There has been a 25% drop in the number of recorded crimes over the past nine years, national statistics office CBS said on Monday.
The drop covers all sorts of crimes and takes the total number of reports in a year to below one million, the CBS said. Public order offences, such as vandalism and assault are down most.
Criminologist Jan van Dijk told broadcaster NOS that people and companies now spend more on crime prevention and that is paying off. People have the feeling society is more, rather than less, threatening because they still have not realised that there are fewer break-ins and bike thefts, he said.
Some politicians and the media also play on people’s fears by giving the impression that the Netherlands is unsafe, he said. ‘Some politicians say that accepting refugees will lead to a crime wave,’ he said. ‘There is no basis for this in the figures.’
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