"The security situation is satisfactory, but that does not mean that it could not be better and that citizens could not feel safer," deputy chief of police Dubravko Novak has said.
According to Novak, the the reduced crime rate was the result of police personnel changes, acquisition of better technical equipment, and good cooperation with the public, media and local authorities.
Noting that the crime rate in the first seven months was lowest in the last five years, Novak said that 58 per cent of the cases had been resolved, or 6.8 per cent more than in the same period of 2004.
The number of most frequent types of crime dropped, including such crimes as breaking and entering, robbery, theft, rape and infliction of grievous bodily harm, while the number of attempted murders increased. The murder rate remained the same as last year, with two gangland-related murders still unsolved.
Novak further said that an increase in drug abuse cases indicated not only a greater presence of narcotics in the capital, but also an increased number of seizures.
He said that police recorded 37.5 per cent fewer road accidents.