Criminal offenses in Belgium down by 5.5%

The crime rate in Belgium declined significantly in the past year, writes Het Laatste Nieuws, based on figures from the federal police.

Belgium scores better in 2013 than in 2012, when more than 1 million crimes were registered, on par with the average of the last decade. Last year the number dropped by 5.5%, to a total of 979,020 offenses, or 2,682 per day. In Flanders, there were 29,799 less crimes registered in 2013, a decrease of 5.9%.

Belgian companies registered 1,613 fewer burglaries in 2013, a decrease of 7.9%, a record low. The number of ram raids (robberies in which a shop window is rammed with a vehicle and looted) went down by 32.9%. The number of car thefts and home- and carjackings also declined. Purse snatching from out of a car, a mostly Brussels phenomenon, dropped by 42%. Burglaries in schools and government buildings decreased by 13.5%.

The federal police point to more efficient security, better policing and stricter penalties for thieves as reasons for the trend.