Berlin crime cases fall to 12 year low
25. Februar 2005 F.A.Z. Weekly. The number of recorded crime cases in Berlin has fallen to its lowest level in 12 years, a report showed this week.
During 2004, police recorded nearly 539,700 cases, a drop of 4.3 percent compared with 2003. This trend was also reflected in the number of murder and manslaughter cases, which fell by 15.1 percent to 157 incidents.
Despite the overall trend, police recorded an increase of 250 percent in fraud cases involving bank cards. The number of drug cases rose as well - by 2.3 percent to about 13,800 incidents.
The number of cases that police were able to solve slipped slightly to 48.5 percent. But the city-state's interior minister, Ehrhart K?rting of the Social Democrats, vowed to improve the rate this year.