Latvia's crime rate increases slightly in 2022

RIGA - The number of crimes registered in Latvia increased slightly last year, mostly due to an increase in the number of thefts, the State Police said on Wednesday.

Regardless of different challenges faced by the police, we still live in a safe country, the State Police's Chief Armands Ruks told Saeima Defense, Internal Affairs and Corruption Prevention Committee today.

A total of 33,821 criminal offenses were registered in Latvia last year, which is 3 percent more than in 2021.

Last year, the State Police launched 30,377 criminal proceedings, which is 1,294 more than in 2021. This is due to the fact that the number of petty thefts increased significantly last year.

The number of particularly serious crimes decreased by 21 percent last year. In particular, the number of embezzlement, money laundering, rape and sexual violence cases decreased in 2022.

At a press conference called in the afternoon, Ruks said that he was overall satisfied with the State Police's performance last year, but also criticized the mistakes made by law enforcement officers at the monument to Soviet soldiers in Riga's Pardaugava on May 10.

This year's priorities include combating organized crime, incitement to social hatred and discord, environmental crimes, drug crimes, sexual crimes, cybercrime, human trafficking, prevention of threats to national economic interests, said Ruks.