Crime at 20-year low in Switzerland

Violent crimes, such as assault and rape, have increased in Switzerland swissinfo.ch

Switzerland's crime rate has reached its lowest level in 20 years, despite an increase in violent offences.

In a report published on Tuesday, the Federal Office for Police said it recorded a total of 271,000 criminal offences last year. This is the lowest figure since the office launched its statistics in 1982.

The decrease is due to a drop in thefts, which represent the largest proportion of crimes.

However, there has been an increase in violent crime, with 5,408 cases of assault and 915 rapes last year. Threats and blackmail have also increased.

Thomas Köppel of the Federal Office for Police told swissinfo it is “very difficult” to explain the rise in violent crime.

“One explanation that is put forward is media violence, but it might be just a general trend of our society,” he said. “However, we’ve seen that prevention works, especially if you consider the drop in the number of crimes committed by youths.”

Legal cases of paedophilia have risen by 165 since 1997, to stand at 1,308 in 2000. However, scientific studies show that the actual number of paedophile crimes is probably much higher than reported.

“I think the rise is due to increased awareness about this problem,” Köppel said. “But to fight the problem, civic society as a whole must become involved in trying to detect signs of child abuse.”

Only three cases of child trafficking were reported for the period.

Counterfeit money

The street value of counterfeit money seized by the Swiss authorities rose by SFr16 million ($9.8 million) between 1999 and 2000.

“We do foresee for this year that a lot of counterfeit money will come on the market, because Switzerland is one of the most important countries for the exchange of money.”

Last year, cocaine and heroine seizures dropped significantly. However, police confiscated more synthetic drugs and cannabis than previously.

“There’s a definite trend for designer or psychotic drugs,” Köppel said. “Youths consider them as less dangerous, but this is completely wrong.”

The number of legal cases of drug consumption stood at 37,000 last year. This represents a seven per cent increase.

Organised crime

The number of court cases concerning organised crime has increased. Köppel says the rise is due to increased police awareness and efficiency.

“But we still have relatively few cases of organised crime,” he said. “We hope to find more cases next year thanks to the Federal Criminal Police.”

As of January 2002, the Swiss government will carry out some investigations on a national level. It has set up a Federal police force to this effect.

swissinfo with agencies