Despite restricted movement and curfew, the year of coronavirus pandemic in Canton Sarajevo (CS) brought a lot of work for police officers, as evidenced by reports on the work of the Police Directorate of the CS Ministry of the Internal Affairs (MIA).
As the data from the monthly reports show, in 2020, in the area of CS, there was an increase in criminal offenses in the field of public order and peace, numerous thefts and aggravated thefts, damage to others’ belongings, as well as suicides, KLix.ba writes.
During 2020, the Sarajevo police recorded as many as 12.152 violations when it comes to the field of public order and peace, which is a drastic increase compared to 2019 when 4.154 violations were recorded.
In the CS area, in 2020, according to the official records of the Police Directorate of the MIA of CS, 4.923 events with the character of a criminal offense were recorded. In 2019, that number amounted to 4.126 events with a tendency to decrease compared to previous years.
When it comes to traffic accidents, in 2020 there were fewer accidents compared to 2019. A total of 743 accidents occurred with casualties, in which 13 people were killed. There were 7.445 accidents with material damage. To recall, in 2019, there were 821 accidents with casualties, among which there were 12 dead, as well as 8.410 accidents with material damage.
The pandemic year also brought an increase in the number of suicides in the CS. While in 2019, a total of 34 people committed suicide by hanging, jumping from a height, using firearms, poisoning, and some other methods, in 2020 the number of suicides increased to 41.
The Police Directorate of the CS MIA reported 471 thefts in 2019, and in 2020 there were almost twice as many, 832 thefts. In the last year, the number of aggravated thefts in CS increased to 1.448, while in 2019, 1.172 of them were registered.
There were 332 robberies in 2020, and in 2019, 378 were registered. When it comes to damaging someone else’s property, 165 such events were recorded during last year, while in 2019 there were 141.
In 2020, police officers of the CS Police Directorate filed reports to the CS Prosecutor’s Office against a total of 42 people due to suspicion that they repeatedly bought narcotics from unknown persons, at various locations, and repackaged and sold them to consumers in CS. In 2019, to recall, the Sarajevo police filed reports against 54 people for unauthorized production and sale of drugs.
According to the latest report of the Operational Team for Migrant Affairs in CS, and according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) data, approximately 4.326 migrants stay in reception, asylum, and immigration centers in the area of CS.