Tuesday, April 29, 2008

99 out of 100 thieves go free


A new report by the justice minister, Knut Storberget, shows that 99.2 percent of all serious robberies on the streets of Oslo are never solved.

Policemaster Arnstein Gjengedal walking by a beggar.

PHOTO: KNUT SNARE

Related stories:

Last year, 11,033 crimes were reported, but just 80 were solved.

And the wave of robberies is increasing rapidly. Yesterday 33 people were the victims of serious crimes in Oslo. In the first three months of 2008, serious robberies in public places have increased by 10 percent.

Many city officials blame the increase in crime on begging and prostitution by people from other lands, mostly Eastern Europe.

A ban on begging in the streets was lifted in 2005.

But while the criminals go free, the politicians and police argue about what can be done. City Council head Erling Lae has sent a letter to the justice minister asking that "pågående" (insistent, or aggressive) begging and prostitution be forbidden.

"Beggers with Eastern European ethnic backgrounds represent a far more aggressive and insistent begging behavior than we have previously been accustomed to. There are also strong indications that they are behind much of the criminality in the form of pickpockets, break-ins, and shop robberies," wrote Lae.

Aftenposten.no



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