24/12/2002 00:00
TW
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Delinquency rose by 51.4 per cent in the Balearics in the first ten months of the year, according to a report by the Police Union's Institute of Studies on Security, which said it was also the biggest regional increase in Spain. The report said that on a national level, the number of crimes investigated by the National Police rose by nearly six per cent to more than 1.1 million. The report also indicated an increase in the rate of criminality, which was 50.7 infractions per 1'000 inhabitants in October, compared to 47.9 in October last year. After the Balearics, the biggest increase in crime was registered in La Rioja, where it went up by 22 per cent, followed by Extremadura (14.2 per cent) and Madrid (11.3 per cent). At the other end of the scale, crime went down by 11.9 per cent in Ceuta, 8.9 per cent in Melilla, 6.4 per cent in the Canary Islands and 4.5 per cent in Cantabria. A drop in crime was also reported in Aragon, Navarre, Murcia and Asturias. The Balearics also topped the list for the highest rate of urban crime, with 89.6 offences per 1'000 inhabitants, followed by Valencia (71.9), Madrid (69.9), Melilla (60.5), Ceuta (56.5), Andalucia (54.5) and the Canary Islands (52.4), all above the national average. The lowest rates were to be found in Asturias (22'8 offences per 1'000 inhabitants), Castile-Leon (29.6) and Galicia (31.8). The Police Union said that citizen insecurity is “a serious problem which does not have a short term solution,” and criticised the policies of the previous ministers of the Interior, Jaime Mayor Oreja and Mariano Rajoy. The Union accused them both of manipulating statistics and being more concerned about hiding the problem than fighting it. At the same time, the Union praised “the effort” of current minister Angel Acebes, and said that in the medium term, thanks to the Plan Against Delinquency and judicial and police co-operation, the growth of insecurity can begin to be stopped.