Survey: Crime and Security in the EU

CRIME, SAFETY & SECURITY IN THE EU
The levels of common crime in the EU have fallen significantly over the past 10 years.

Nevertheless, crime hotspots have been identified as Ireland, the UK, Estonia, the Netherlands and Denmark (30% higher than EU average).

Greece has the highest likelihood of corruption and the greatest concern about burglaries and safety on the streets.

Hate crimes are particularly prevalent in the immigrant communities.

30% of EU citizens are afraid of burglary and do not feel safe on the streets.

Citizens in the newer member states, the UK and Ireland are much more likely to favour imprisonment for persistent offenders rather than community service orders.

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The situation on the ground

The levels of common crime have fallen significantly over the past 10 years, although Belgium appears to be bucking the trend56.
o 15% of EU citizens surveyed (2004-05) have been a victim of common
crime in 2004. This compares with a peak figure of 21% in 1995.
o No relation has been seen between the rates of common crime
identified during the survey and the actual numbers of crime recorded
by the various police forces.

The level of self-protection (alarms, special locks, etc.) has risen considerably in the past 10 years, especially in the UK and Ireland.

Burglary is decreasing everywhere except for the UK and Finland.

The risk of robbery is comparatively low in all countries.

Levels of assault (with and without violence) are decreasing everywhere except for Belgium and the Netherlands. However, the EU average is still approaching 3%.
o There appears to be a correlation between violence and the
consumption of alcohol.

Hate crimes are particularly prevalent in immigrant communities (10% chance of being targeted) and even more so amongst immigrants who feel themselves to be religious (12%)


The people speak

There is less concern now about burglaries, but 30% of interviewees are still worried about this eventuality.

Despite less violent crime, 30% of people do not feel safe on the streets.
o The survey has shown a strong correlation between concern about
safety on the streets and exposure to drug-related incidents.

There are wide differences across the participating member states about the opinions of police performance, with particularly poor views being expressed in countries representative of the newer member states.
o 30% of interviewees across the EU feel the police are not controlling
crime, this figure is decreasing everywhere except for Poland and
France
o Overall, all police forces have improved performance ratings except for
the UK, the Netherlands and France.
o Many interviewees11 did not report incidents to the police, with property
crime being more likely to be reported than contact crime


What the people want

Using recidivist burglars as an example, people in the newer member states, the UK and Ireland were much more likely to favour imprisonment rather than community service orders.