Crime has dropped by half since the Covid-19 pandemic began, with pickpocketing one of the crimes that has declined the most, while fraud with bank fraud has grown the most, according to a government report.
The report of the second period of the State of Emergency and delivered to the Assembly of the Republic indicates that the PSP registered 7.852 crimes between March 13 and April 17, 50% less than in the same period of 2019, when 17.458 occurred.
The data also show that arrests made by the Public Security Police dropped by 60,4% in the same period, from 2.780 in 2019 to 1.104 this year.
The period from March 13th to April 17th corresponds to the date from which the alert situation was declared because of Covid-19 until the end of the second period of the State of Emergency.
The report, signed by the Minister of Internal Administration, states that the crimes that dropped the most during that period, according to the PSP, were pickpocket theft (-91,9%), driving for excessive alcohol use (-82,9%) , offenses to simple voluntary physical integrity (-67,2%), theft in motor vehicles (-58%) and theft of opportunity (-82,5%).
On the other hand, the crimes that rose the most in the PSP area, which operates in urban centers, were disobedience (94,3%), fraud with bank fraud (67,6%), other robberies (114,3%) and resistance and coercion over employee (12,8%).
In the report, in which the Government gives a detailed account of the measures adopted during the State of Emergency, the PSP states that "there is a redoubled interest in monitoring some specific crimes", namely domestic violence and fraud.
According to the PSP, between March 13 and April 17, 1.105 crimes of domestic violence were registered, 34,7% less than in the same period last year, when 1.692 denouncements were made.
The number of detainees for domestic violence also dropped, dropping to 27, from 88 to 61.
The PSP states that in crimes against property in general, which includes fraud, there was a decrease of 16%, noting that there was a "substantial increase in fraud with bank fraud" and a slight increase in the number of reports of computer fraud and in communications.
In the report, the GNR states that during the emergency period there was an increase in scams, thefts and robberies, but does not specify.
During the meetings of the Monitoring Structure of the State of Emergency, the GNR drew attention to the difficulties in communicating the lists made available by the health authorities of people subject to mandatory home confinement, noting that "all the lists were not received".
The PSP also indicates that “44,5% of the identifications contained in the listings are incomplete, thus inhibiting the continuation of active surveillance measures”.
It is up to the PSP and the GNR to supervise people who are in compulsory home confinement, resorting to the crime of disobedience if they go out into the street.
The report on the application of the second period of the state of emergency, between 3 and 17 April, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, will be discussed in the Assembly of the Republic on Thursday.
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