Crimes recorded by the police

The data on crimes reflect only those recorded by the police. The extent to which the police records crimes is difficult to measure. In addition, comparisons between countries should be made with caution because of the differences in legal systems and in crime classifications. England and Wales, Northern Ireland, the United States and Israel had the highest rates of reported serious assaults, with rates varying between 300 and 500 reported cases per 100 000 population in 2000. The United States had the highest rate of reported rapes at 32 reported cases per 100 000 population, which is lower than in 1990, when the rate was as high as 41 (Table 13.1). With few exceptions, drug offences have been on the rise in the whole region from 1990 to 2000. The highest reported rate of drug offences was in Norway, with close to 1 case per 100 population (Table 13.2). In 1990, the United States and the Russian Federation had the highest murder rate in the ECE region at 9.4 per 100 000 population. From 1990 to 2000, the United States was one of few countries were the murder rate had declined, while it soared to 21.9 in the Russian Federation, still the highest in the region (Figure 13.3). In all countries, the vast majority of the offenders were men. In a few countries, more than 25 percent of the reported thefts were committed by women (Germany -30%, United States - 29%, Norway - 27% and Austria - 26%), but in general, men were responsible for approximately 80-85 per cent of the reported crimes in western Europe and North America, and for approximately 85-90 percent in central and eastern Europe and the CIS countries (Table 13.4).

Clear-up rates

Clear-up rates were generally higher for violent crimes and frauds than for robberies and thefts. In the case of murder, for instance, a large majority of countries reported that at least three out of every four crimes were solved. Generally, rapes also had a relatively high clear-up rate. Excluding Liechtenstein, which had 2 reported rapes that remained unsolved, Norway had the lowest reported clear-up rate in the region at 20 percent. For serious assaults the lowest clear-up rate reported was in the Netherlands (52 percent in 1998). Theft appears to be the crime that is solved least frequently, with the clear-up rates for Italy at 4 per cent, Andorra 7 per cent and Netherlands 9 per cent in 1998 (Table 13.6).

Prison population

In 2000, more than 2.8 million persons were in prison in the ECE region, with approximately 1.3 million in the United States and 700 thousand in the Russian Federation. In general, there were more prisoners in relation to the population size in central and eastern Europe, the CIS countries and North America than in western Europe. The highest rate in 2000 was found in Belarus and Kazakhstan with 550 and 546 prisoners per 100 000 population respectively. The rates were also high in the United States and the Russian Federation with 468 and 460 prisoners respectively (Table 13.7).

Composition of prison population

The share of women prisoners was below 10 percent in all countries of the ECE region. In 2000 Canada had the highest share of women prisoners with 9 per cent. Spain and Portugal were also close to this figure at 8.7 per cent. There is no clear pattern in the changes between 1995 and 2000. In some countries the share of women prisoners has increased, in others it has decreased (Figure 13.8). The share of foreign prisoners varies a lot between countries in the region, from 58 per cent in Switzerland to less than one per cent in Kyrgyzstan, Bulgaria, Romania, Lithuania and Turkey (Table 13.9).

Length of sentences

The distribution of convicted prisoners by length of sentence varies considerably across countries. In Canada, Denmark, Serbia and Montenegro, Latvia and Norway more than 90 per cent of the convicted prisoners serve sentences of less than 3 years. On the other hand, in Albania, Greece, Russian Federation, Republic of Moldova and Romania more than 80 per cent of the convicted prisoners serve sentences of more than 3 years. 20% of prisoners in Northern Ireland, almost 15% in Scotland and 10% in Greece are sentenced to prison for life (Table 13.12).

Youth sentencing

The juvenile sentencing rates are difficult to compare across countries, since definitions of juveniles and definitions of crimes vary. But in a large majority of the countries surveyed, there was an increase in youth sentencing from 1990 to 1999, and in some countries a very substantial one. Hungary and the Russian Federation reported the highest youth sentencing rate in 1999 with more than 1.5 % of juveniles sentenced (Table-13.13).

Tables and charts

The following tables are available in the restricted area (if you do not have a user ID and password, register here.):

13.1 Selected violent crimes recorded by the police, 1990 and 2000

13.2 Selected non-violent crimes recorded by the police, 1990 and 2000

13.3 Committed intentional homicides recorded by the police, 1990 and 2000

13.4 Selected crimes, sex distribution of offenders, 2000

13.5 Victims of selected crimes, selected countries, 2000

13.6 Clear up rates for selected crimes, 2000

13.7 Prison situation in 1990-2000, selected day

13.8 Percentage of women prisoners, 1990 and 2000, selected day

13.9 Percentage of foreign prisoners, 1995 and 2000, selected day

13.10 Convicted prisoners according to selected crime categories, 2000

13.11 Convicted prisoners by length of sentence ordered, latest year

13.12 Proportion of convicted prisoners with sentences 3 years and over, latest year

13.13 Juvenile sentencing rate in selected countries, 1990 and 1999