Crime rate in festive St. Petersburg drops 47%

The crime rate dropped 47% during the celebration of the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg, Russia's Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Chekalin told at a Friday video conference.

According to his words, not a single murder by way of gunshot wounds or crime against foreigners was registered in the city since the beginning of the ten-day celebration. Police officers never used service arms, and the number of crimes uncovered during the celebration amounted to two-thirds of their total number. Also, the number of calls from anonymous "telephone terrorists" has noticeably dropped.

Not a single crime was registered in the city during the water and laser shows held on the night of May 28, which gathered almost 1.5 million spectators.

The law enforcing authorities have tightened control over St. Petersburg highways, as a result of which the total number of road accidents was reduced threefold. Similar measures taken in the St. Petersburg subway led to the number of offences committed there dropping twofold.

Security has been tightened around 98 of the city's important state-owned facilities, 17 bridges, and 11 underground communications. The water area of St. Petersburg is being controlled by 26 Interior Ministry cutters and 3 diving teams. According to Chekalin, the effort to ensure security during the celebration involves 16,000 police officers and 5,700 Interior Ministry troops. The Friday program envisages 12 festive events, 5 of them of international and the rest of local importance.