The Ministry of Justice has issued a clarification regarding the trend in serious crime, following a news report.
As the Ministry states in its announcement, “the report refers to a 27% increase in serious crime, and while this is accurate, it does not indicate a rise in crime rates but rather an increase in the number of criminal cases that were previously undetected but have now been uncovered and brought to justice.”
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
The Police’s aggregate data, as noted, show a 2.5% decrease in serious crime cases in the first half of 2026 and a marginal decrease of 0.3% over the first nine months, compared to the corresponding periods in 2025.
“The directive to the police is not to wait for crime to come to their attention through a complaint, but to seek it out, identify it, and uncover it,” the report notes.
“The increased police presence and the intensification of checks, campaigns, and targeted operations contribute to the uncovering of cases and the subsequent arrests. This enhanced action, through the use of intelligence and systematic investigation, brings to light criminal activities that previously went unnoticed. “The fact that they are being uncovered and documented today does not mean they did not exist before.”
Meanwhile, as the Ministry adds, “the recorded cases include both complaints from citizens and cases uncovered by the police themselves. Therefore, an increase in specific categories or time periods does not automatically mean a corresponding rise in crime. It is also important to consider how these cases arose, how many were identified through police action, and how many were solved. Similarly, arrests are evaluated in relation to the intensity of operations and checks.”
The main goal is to combat crime by every means possible, to bring as many cases as possible to court, and to secure convictions for the guilty, the statement concludes.
