Crime in Russia Axed by 14 Percent Last Year

In 2002 the number of crimes committed in Russia was 14 percent cut, Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov told journalists in Moscow. "The situation on the whole has taken a turn for the better", he said. At the same time, he stated a growth in the number of impertinent crimes. "If it is a theft, it involves breakage, if it is the theft of an automobile, it has elements of robbery", he explained.

We "follow the entire situation and our analysts have registered a subsiding wave of crime", added the interior minister.

As regards juvenile crime, Gryzlov reported a 22.7-percent downfall in 2002. Over one million neglected juveniles have passed through the hands of policemen and been returned to their parents, put into temporary detention centers for underaged offenders, medical and social institutions.

"What is especially important, the return of children to the street has been prevented", stressed Boris Gryzlov.