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Description
The main focus of the project is to help citizens be more active in reporting conventional crime to the responsible bodies of the Ministry of Interior (MoI) by initiating a change of the relevant policies and practices. The planned change will result from raising the awareness of the general public and public institutions at national and local level about the scale of the problem, the factors for its manifestation and recommendations for its solution. Surveys of victims over the last 10 years show that latency in Bulgaria is much higher than the average in the European Union ranging between 45% and 47%. High latency also stems from the common opinion that the MoI employees do not register all crimes but use the so-called “police filters”. Greater citizen involvement and higher rate of reporting crime and cooperation with the police will be sought after by means of monitoring registration of criminal incidents and discussion of the results on site. The project will result in the following outcomes and outputs: analyzed data from the 112 emergency number system that is matched against the police statistical data of the regional police departments of the MoI; a national survey of crime victims and in-depth interviews on site carried out; identified risk settlements and municipalities due to high crime rate and latency; a tool for interactive visual presentation of the project results; an analysis of the relevant national legislation and its implementation in practice; a report with recommendations for a change of the existing public policies. Expert discussions will be held in some cities attended by local police authorities, municipal committees for public order and security, the media and civil society organizations. All project publications and events will aim at influencing the relevant public policies.
Summary of project results
The objectives of the project were to increase civil activity in reporting domestic crime to the authorities, as well as to improve the level of awareness of the general public and public institutions on the extent of so-called latent crime (unreported or unregistered crime).
Based on focus groups, a national crime survey and an analysis of police statistics on conventional crime, problem areas and concrete ideas were formulated to address the difficulties most frequently mentioned by citizens in reporting crime, and the non-registration of crimes by police. The results of the project were presented at meetings with representatives of local communities in settlements with different demographic profiles (Sofia, regional centres, small towns), as well as at workshops and discussions with representatives of the Ministry of Interior (national police, 112 system, regional directorates). The recommendations for changes in the legal framework and the organisation of reporting and registration of crimes are publicly available on the Center''s website: Conventional Crime and Trust in Police.
Sustainability:
The outcomes of the project were promoted through social media campaigns and online and in-person events. The interactive maps of conventional crime (crimemapsbg.com) were produced to enable all citizens to review the current level of conventional crime in their district and municipality, as well as the level of citizen activity in reporting crime at the district level. CSD will continue its monitoring of national and local crime levels and the measures taken by the Ministry of Interior to raise citizen awareness and reduce latent crime.