Crime Rate Increases in Georgia
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Thursday, August 23
The number of crimes increased by 55.81 percent in January-July of 2018, compared to the same period of the last year, the statistics provided by the Internal Affairs Ministry reads.
The statistics show that 33, 054 crimes were reported in January-July of 2018 in Georgia
Crime against property is still the most prevalent in Georgia. Between January-July of 2018 13,256 crimes against property were recorded.
The second most common crime in Georgia is a crime against physical well-being (6,311 crimes), of which 2,939 were a result of domestic violence.
1,355 crimes were committed against a person’s life, while 222 crimes were against sexual inviolability and sexual freedom.
Otar Kakhidze, member of the opposition European Georgia party, does not see the possibility of improving crime statistics under the power of the current authorities.
Kakhidze says that the Georgian Dream government does not have any vision or plan to improve the situation.
"It is good that the Ministry of Internal Affairs does not falsify the crime statistics, as previous ministers did it. Unfortunately, the government does not have any vision or plan for improving the situation.
“It is necessary to change the reform of the law enforcement system; it is necessary to bring a special attack on the criminal underworld and so-called thieves-in-law (criminal bosses). Unfortunately, I do not see these steps, and I do not have the reason to be optimistic about improving the situation, "said Kakhidze.
Previous Interior Minister Giorgi Mgebrishvili refused to release crime statistics, while the current minister Giorgi Gakharia annulled the decision and made the monthly crime statistics available.
The Interior Ministry says that the increased number of crimes is also related to the raised public awareness of certain crimes, especially to family crimes.
