Extortionists and recidivists are rampant in Prague, crime in the metropolis continues to rise
Certain crimes are characteristic of recidivists. For example, robbers stole a mobile phone in Letňany with a pistol in hand. The police soon arrested the two foreigners, the detectives assume that this duo is responsible for more than a “solo” street action.
“As part of house searches, detectives found a number of mobile phones, stolen personal documents and other evidence indicating that the male suspects had committed similar criminal activities in dozens of cases throughout the Czech Republic,” Prague police spokeswoman Violeta Siřišťová described the current case.
For seasoning with violence
Robbery is one of the crimes that have been on the rise in the capital in recent months. Last year’s statistics recorded 250 of them, and at the end of last year, criminal investigators entered 191 cases into the solved column. Recidivists are responsible for 78 cases, foreigners for 48 and juveniles for 26.
Crime in the metropolis
Source: Police of the Czech Republic |
In the waning covid year of 2021, police databases register 186 robberies, 150 of which they solved. “Usual” suspects, people with multiple convictions, are responsible for 51 cases, people from abroad 38. In the pre-virus year 2019, evidence was given of 164 robberies, of which investigators closed 112 cases. Recidivists were in charge in 46 cases, foreigners in 26. This is one of the typical offenses for the anonymous big city, but it is not the only one where police analysts are recording increases.
“The increase in crime was recorded across the board in all regions of the Czech Republic. We recorded the highest level of criminal activity in Prague,” said Ondřej Moravčík, spokesman for the police presidium. In this regard, the largest quantitative growth occurred in the metropolis compared to other regions of the country.
“From a general point of view, the increase must be attributed to a noticeable higher tension in society, which was also influenced by the covid-19 pandemic, the war conflict in Ukraine and the complicated development of the economic situation,” Moravčík summarized
According to criminologists, the increased movement of people in public places or social events is also among the causes of increasing criminal activity.
“The factor that accounts for these data is also social individuals and relationship problems, which is the situation with violent crime,” said psychologist Joža Spurný from the Police Academy of the Czech Republic.
Extortion is another violent crime, the number of which, according to evidence, is on the rise in the metropolis. During 2022, the police registered 237 of these cases. They closed 150 of them, a good 44 of them were recidivists and foreigners. During 2021, the police investigated 158 cases of extortion. In the pre-virus year 2019, the database lists 136 violations of this section of the Criminal Code.
Other violent crimes are also gradually returning to pre-Covid levels – for example, attacks against police officers. They faced 42 attacks last year, and 46 in 2019.
Thieving temptations
Property crime traditionally accounts for the largest portion of crime, and this is no different in Prague.
“He used a wooden stake to pry open a section of Plexiglas at the sales counter and crawled in through a small opening,” he described one of the current cases Richard Hrdina, Prague police spokesman. This thief committed a whole series of similar burglaries.
Not only shops, but even apartments become targets. Last year, the police handled a total of 671 burglaries, closing 144. “This is one of the crimes typical of recidivists,” one of Prague’s detectives summarizes his experience.
The statistics confirm his words, out of the mentioned portion of clarified cases, 104 of those apprehended had a more or less densely described criminal record.
The people of Prague and perhaps the metropolis are also plagued by crimes typical of parking lots and the streets of a big city – theft of things from cars. During last year, it was almost three thousand, but it is still a figure below 2019, the time before the pandemic.
However, tourists are slowly returning to the metropolis, and with them the number of pickpockets is also increasing. Last year, their number exceeded three thousand, but it still does not reach the pre-Covid level. On the contrary, the police recorded 1,485 sprayer attacks last year, i.e. more than in 2019, when they detected 1,148.
The classics are drug offenses, for example their production and “dealing”. There were 474 such cases last year, almost the same as before covid.