Crime rate drops in Bogor

BOGOR (JP): Bogor Police recorded a sharp decline in its crime rate throughout 2000, but 40 percent of the cases investigated during the same period remain unsolved.

The regional police's Chief Comr. Taufik Ridha told a press meeting recently that 1,620 crimes were committed last year, down from 3,950 recorded in the previous year.

Taufik said vehicle theft and armed theft topped the crime list, and such a trend was expected to continue in the current year.

He added that the Bogor mayoralty and Sukabumi regency recorded the most crimes throughout 2000, with more than 1,200 offenses between them.

The police also reported fewer traffic accidents last year, with 206 cases, lower than the 278 in the previous year. Year-on- year fatalities resulting from the road incidents also declined to 174, from 271. (21)