By: Dr Vinko Gorenak
Reading police reports can be quite a boring task, as they are packed with statistical data and comparisons. However, for those familiar with police work, a group I hope I can count myself among, these reports can be very interesting and insightful. In this context, let me draw your attention to just a few figures that emerge from them over the past few years.
The police have been preparing reports on their work for as long as I can remember, but they used to be mainly for the needs of former authorities. After Slovenia’s independence, these reports were more or less for internal use, and political decision-makers did not pay much attention to them. However, since 2013, when the new police legislation was adopted, the police have also been reporting to the National Assembly. As the then Minister of the Interior, I explicitly demanded that such a provision be included in police legislation. And rightly so.
Let us now look at some figures from police reports that convince me that Golob’s coalition is jeopardising our safety. I will compare the numbers from 2019 to 2023. Keep in mind that in 2019 we had a left-wing government, in 2020 we had ten and a half months of Janša’s government, which carried out its duties until June 1st, 2022, after which we again have a left-wing government and coalition. In 2020 and 2022, the numbers between the governments slightly overlap.
Let’s first look at the number of criminal offenses. In 2019, there were 54,867; during Janša’s third government, this number dropped to 44,257 in 2021, but in 2023, it again rose to 54,344. One of the most important figures, of course, is the number of solved criminal offenses, i.e., cases where the police identify the perpetrators. The numbers here are also clear. If the police successfully solved 50.2% of crimes in 2019, the rate increased to 54.6% during Janša’s government in 2021. In 2022 (half the year under Janša’s government and half under Golob’s), it dropped to 53.6%, and in 2023 to 51.4%.
Also interesting is the number of offenses against police officers, offenses where perpetrators insult or behave indecently towards police. In 2019, there were 3,247 such cases, in 2021 (during the time of large protests and Janša’s third government) there were 2,771, and in 2023 there were as many as 3,265. From this, we can infer that police officers were much more tolerant in 2021 (under Janša’s government) than in 2023, when there were no mass protests (under Golob’s government).
Even more telling are the figures on illegal border crossings. In 2019, there were 16,143; during Janša’s government in 2021, this number fell to 4,248, and in 2023 (under Golob’s) it surged to an unimaginable 60,602. The previous record was in 2000 when we recorded around 35,000 illegal migrants. In this regard, the number of foreigners turned away at the border is also important. In 2019, there were 4,107 such cases, but in 2023 only 843. This clearly reflects the political orientation of Golob’s coalition that illegal migrants are welcome here.
The number of calls to the police emergency number 113 is an indicator of the public’s need for police intervention. In 2019, there were 526,193 calls; during Janša’s government in 2021, this number dropped to 496,832, but in 2023, it increased to 533,662. Citizens, therefore, increasingly need police assistance and intervention.
Lastly, we cannot ignore the number of police employees. It would be reasonable to expect that with the increase in crime, especially with the enormous rise in illegal border crossings and the increased number of calls to the police emergency number 113, the number of police officers would also increase. But the opposite is true: if at the end of 2019 there were 8,189 police officers and criminal investigators, this number rose to 8,451 in 2021 (under Janša’s third government), but in 2023, when security challenges for the police were even greater, it fell to 8,162. This means that Golob’s coalition, despite increased security challenges, reduced the number of police officers by as many as 289. It is also noteworthy that before entering the Schengen zone, we promised the EU we would have slightly over 10,000 police officers.
In conclusion, the police statistics are clear. They roughly tell us that Golob’s coalition, in the face of growing security challenges, is endangering our safety, as evidenced by the number of crimes whose suspects are illegal migrants, but that is another story, as the police skilfully hide this data.
To be continued.