Interior Minister says crime rate is low, but more improvements required
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Wednesday, October 11
Georgian Minister of Internal Affairs Giorgi Mghebrishvili stressed that the crime rate in Georgia is “very low”. However, he says, the Interior Ministry should remain cautious.
The Minister made the statement when announcing an information campaign for smart cameras which will automatically monitor road violations from November 1.
“Georgia takes one of the leading positions for safety through various ratings. Despite the fact the Interior Ministry permanently strives for development to be more effective both for investigating crimes and their prevention,” the Minister stated.
Mghebrishvili announced that the installation of about 3,000 smart cameras in Georgia was important as in Tbilisi there are only 120 patrol police crews and half a million cars.
“Controlling the situation with 120 units is impossible without modern technologies,” the Minister stated.
The cameras capture several violations: ignoring a red traffic line, crossing the double line, driving in the opposite direction of the traffic and driving in the lane designed for municipal transport.
The violations will be automatically reflected in a special program at the Joint Operation Centre of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The violations detected by smart cameras will not cause deductions in the 100- demerit points.
A driver will receive information about the violation via SMS or through a special application.
If drivers pay a fine within ten days, they will receive a 20 percent discount. This was introduced to encourage timely payments of fines.
If drivers will not pay the fine within the ten days after receiving the SMS, the Ministry will send a fine via the post office to the address they are registered.
If you do not pay the fine within 30-60 days, the Ministry will resend it.
In the case the fine is not submitted twice, the Ministry will upload the fine on its webpage: police.ge.
If a driver fails to pay the fine in the course of 30 days, they will face increased fines.
In the case of ignoring the increased fines, a more legal enforcement will take place.
The opposition meanwhile names Mghebrishvili as a “weak“ Minister, who according to them fails to fulfill his obligations appropriately.
They have several times demanded his resignation in connection with several notorious cases, especially to those related to the detention of opposition activists.
