BERLIN, May 16 (UPI) -- A top German official has said domestic crime rates are down, making the country one of the safest in the world, but police unions strongly disagree.
In 2005, the total number of criminal offenses has decreased by 3.6 percent, Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Monday in Berlin while presenting Germany's latest crime statistics.
"At the same time, the crime solving rate has slightly increased. That shows: Germany is one of the safest countries in the world."
The total number of criminal offenses fell by over 240,000 to just under 6.4 million. German police were also able to improve their crime-solving rate from 54.2 percent to 55 percent -- the best indicators since the statistics started being compiled -- that confirm greater police efficiency, the interior minister said.
"This proves that crime fighting in this country is very efficient and that police are doing an excellent job," he added. "Rightfully so, the German police enjoy high levels of respect and trust with the population."
Apart from 2004, when there was a slight increase in the number of criminal cases, 2005 saw the fourth drop in the crime rate in the past five years. Capital crimes such as murder and manslaughter dropped by 3.4 percent, with nearly all cases solved.
"Especially the improved DNA testing has dramatically increased the risk for criminals to be captured," Bavaria's Interior Minister Guenther Beckstein said at the same conference. "Also, several major cases of the past that were considered very tough to clear up could be solved after the event."
The ministers also reported drops in break-ins, theft and drug-related crimes.
Schaeuble called the statistics "considerable successes," given the fact that the globalisation of crime has posed new challenges to police all over the world.
The German Police Union, or GdP, however, has strongly contested the government's view that Germany is safer than ever.
"The decrease in overall criminality last year did not make life in Germany safer," Konrad Freiberg, the union's head, said in a statement, citing a five percent increase in aggravated assault cases. "There is a trend toward an increasing brutalization and readiness to act violently within our society."
According to official statistics, the number of assault cases grew by 4 percent and the aggravated assault total grew by even 5.3 percent.
The ministry claims the increase is partly caused by preventive efforts to shed light onto the dark back-alleys of crime, when it comes to assault and aggravated assault.
"Especially with violent cases against women and children, people are more ready to file a complaint with the police now," the interior ministry said in a statement.
However, Freiberg strongly criticized the government for cutting police jobs and equipment, arguing the move caused "the dark figure of crime to increase" rather than decrease.
He added the total number of criminal cases only dropped because police lacked the manpower to pursue all hints, especially in cases that take a substantial amount of time to research, such as organized crime and drug crimes.
While fraud cases in general have only slightly increased in number, the ministry has reported a dramatic rise -- 11.9 percent -- in computer-related fraud.
"Classical shoplifting is replaced by theft done with the help of the computer," officials said.
While "ordinary" crime may well be on the decrease, Germany's right-wing and left-wing extremism scenes are stepping up the heat.
Last week, the interior ministry published its statistics for politically motivated crimes, and the numbers are far from soothing.
The total amount of politically motivated crimes grew by 5,224, or a staggering 24.7 percent, to 26,401 overall, the second-highest value since the statistics were launched in 2001.
Right and left-wing extremist violence (with a lower total but a similarly drastic upsurge) has increased, Schaeuble said, calling the trend "a very unpleasant development."
Larger political events frequented by extremist groups are increasingly dominated by clashes between two "rivaling" sides.
"It seems to be a development away from the traditional democratic disputes toward an increasingly violent defense of one's own ideologies," the ministry said.
