Gang violence and mugging increased - Crime up by percent

Statistics from the Maldives Police Service has shown an increase in gang violence and muggings raising the crime rate by percent.

The statistics on the official website of the Police show a spike in crime last May. The crime rate compared to the May of 2015 is raised in 2016 due to an increase in gang violence, theft and drug related crimes.

A total of 1,288 crimes were reported to the Police last month including gang violence, theft, mugging, sexual assault, domestic abuse, embezzlement, scams and bribery. The number of crimes reported in May 2015 were 1, 128.

Even with the rise in gang violence, traffic and drug related crimes last month, the number of theft and sexual assault has gone down.

Crimes that went down:

• Theft

• Sexual Assault

• Vandalism

Compared to last year, drug related crimes in the month of May have risen by 46 percent with 238 crimes being reported compared to the 163 drug related crimes reported in May 2015.

Violent crimes were increased by 22 percent this May with 87 reported crimes compared to the 71 reported crimes last May.

Crimes that went up:

• Violent Crimes

• Mugging

• Drug Crimes

• Cheque Bounce

The number crimes reported in 2016 so far has been higher that the first five months of last year with 6193 crimes. In the first five months of 2015, 5723 crimes were reported to the Police with a difference of 8 percent.