The number of crimes reported in Germany fell by almost 10 percent in 2017, according to police statistics published by the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

It is reportedly the sharpest year-on-year drop in over 25 years, with officials saying "we have not recorded such a large decline" since 1993.

Read more: German police launch crackdown on human trafficking, organized crime

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Breakdown of crimes

The report found:

There were 5.76 million crimes reported in 2017, 9.6 percent fewer than in 2016.

About one-third of all crimes were theft offenses, dropping by 11.8 percent.

Shoplifting decreased by 6.6 percent, to 353,384 cases, and pickpocketing by 22.7 percent, to 127,376.

33,263 cars and 300,006 bicycles were stolen — down 8.6 and 9.8 percent, respectively.

Burglaries fell 23 percent, to 116,540 cases, although 80 percent of burglaries are still not solved.

Violent crime declined by 2.4 percent, to 188,946 cases, of which 137,058 involved serious bodily injury.

Murders increased by 3.2 percent, to 785 cases.

Drug offenses rose 9.2 percent, to 330,580 cases.

Child pornography cases rose 14.5 percent, to 6,512 cases.

The number of non-German suspects fell 22.8 percent, to 736,265.

Read more: German states look to reintegration to reduce migrant crime

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Less people, less crime

The chairman of the German Police Officers' Union, Oliver Malchow, told Welt am Sonntag to avoid "premature conclusions regarding the security situation."

He suggested that part of the decrease was related to the fact that fewer asylum seekers came to Germany last year compared to the year before. But Malchow isn't suggesting migrants are more prone to commit crime.

Instead, the figures show that more crimes are committed when there are more people in the country. Studies have shown that Syrian and Iraqi refugees tend to commit fewer crimes because they don't want to spoil their chances of obtaining legal permission to stay in Germany.

Read more: Are refugees more criminal than the average German citizen?

Public opinion: The drop in crime numbers follows a poll that found about half of Germans believe there are places in the country so lawless that even police will not venture into them. Migrants are often blamed for increased crime rates, despite the Federal Criminal Police's reporting that foreigners are less likely than native-born Germans to commit every category of crime.

Official release: Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer will present the numbers at the Conference of Interior Ministers on May 8.

Read more: Amid controversy, Germany's police struggle to find recruits

aw/jlw (dpa, AFP, Reuters)</s>The number of crimes reported in Germany fell by almost 10 percent in 2017, according to police statistics published by the Welt am Sonntag newspaper on Sunday.

It is reportedly the sharpest year-on-year drop in more than 25 years.
• There were 5.76 million crimes reported in 2017, 9.6 percent less than 2016.
• About one third of all crimes were theft offences, dropping by 11.8 percent.
• Shoplifting decreased by 6.6 percent to 353,384 cases and pickpocketing by 22.7 percent to 127,376.
• 33,263 cars and 300,006 bicycles were stolen — down 8.6 and 9.8 percent respectively.
• Burglary fell 23 percent to 116,540 cases, although 80 percent of burglaries are still not solved.
• Violent crime declined by 2.4 percent to 188,946 cases, of which 137,058 involved serious bodily injury.
• The number of non-German suspects fell 22.8 percent to 736,265.

Read more: German states look to reintegration to reduce migrant crime

Chairman of the police union Oliver Malchow told Welt am Sonntag to avoid "premature conclusions regarding the security situation."

He said a large part of the drop was related to the fact that fewer asylum seekers have come to Germany. But he conceded that "since the report started in 1993 we have not recorded such a large decline."

Read more: Germans fear the rise of 'lawless' neighborhoods, poll shows

Public opinion: The sharp drop in crime numbers comes in sharp contrast to a recent poll that found about half of Germans believe there are places in the country so lawless, even police will not venture there. Immigrants are often blamed for increased crime rates, despite the Federal Criminal Police reporting that foreigners are less likely than native-born Germans to commit every category of crime.

Official release: Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer will present the numbers at the Conference of Interior Ministers on May 8.</s>Last year the number of crimes across the country fell by almost 10 percent. This is the sharpest year-on-year drop in almost 25 years, reported Welt.

Whereas a total of 5.76 million crimes were committed in Germany last year, in 2016 this number was 610,542 - a decrease of 9.6 percent.

READ ALSO: What crimes are committed in Germany and where is criminality most common?

Oliver Malchow, Chairman of the German Police Officers' Union, told Welt to avoid "premature conclusions regarding the security situation."

Malchow noted that part of the decrease is related to the fact that fewer asylum seekers came to Germany last year compared to the previous year.

In 2016, several hundred thousand refugees were recorded as breaking German border crossing laws when they arrived in the country.

Since the first time nationwide crime statistics were recorded in 1993, a decline as large as this hasn’t been recorded, Malchow added.

As in previous years, about one third of all crimes involve theft. But with 2.09 million cases of theft recorded last year, this was a decrease of 11.8 percent.

Shoplifting and pickpocketing also declined by 6.6 percent and by 22.7 percent, respectively.

In addition, fewer cars (down 8.6 percent) and bicycles (down 9.8 percent) were stolen.

The police have also been particularly successful in combating burglary. The number of break-ins has fallen nationwide by 23 percent to 116,540 cases - although 80 percent of burglaries are still unsolved.

SEE ALSO: Burglaries drop by over 20 percent in a year, signalling major police success

The number of non-German suspects also fell by 22.8 percent, to 736,265 cases.

Conversely, in a few categories crime rates actually increased.

Murders in 2017 compared to in 2016 increased by 3.2 percent, to 785 cases - in spite of a drop of 2.4 percent in reported violent crime.

Drug offenses also rose by 9.2 percent, to 330,580 cases. This includes an increase of crimes related to cannabis (up 12 percent), cocaine and crack (up 18.7 percent) and heroin (up 2.6 percent).</s>The highly anticipated crime stats released was Friday at the Government Administration Building, George Town.

The overall crime rate for 2017 is roughly the same as it was compared to 2016. Overall, crime was actually down about 1%.

Within that overall number, serious crimes rose by less than 1 % and other crimes dropped by about five percent.

Looking at serious crimes alone, Arson is up 36% from 9 in 2016 to 11 last year. Rape is up 29% with 17 reported in 2017. Other sexual offences are up 27%. Burglary is up 14%. On the flip side, we saw some notable decreases too. Attempted murder is down from 8 to 5, that’s a 60% drop. We had 11 fewer firearms offences last year a swing of 44%. Drug offences are down nearly 13 percent.

Police leaders released the 2017 crime statistics report. The overall figures show overall crime down by about 1 percent. When looking at serious crime burglary is up 14% from 2016 to 2017.

It was the only type of crime by which the RCIPS broke it down by the district. Two districts with the highest burglary rates, George Town with 290 and Bodden Town at 156. Firearms offences dropped by 44% overall.

Breaking that down further, possession of an unlicensed firearm fell by 9% overall. Importation was up by two.

“We saw one more case of possession of a bulletproof vest and possession of an imitation firearm and we saw one fewer instance of possession of an unlicensed firearm for ammunition.”

When looking at the Sister Islands Police Commissioner Derek Byrnes said they focus on the sister islands just as much as Grand Cayman.

“There is some concerns amongst the senior command as to the level of crime that has been occurring on Cayman Brac in the last year and we have started as system of sending one of our chief inspectors or superintendents over on a monthly basis to review and conduct an audit,” said Mr. Byrnes

The Commissioner also said a new RCIPS website and app will be coming out in May, making it to easier to communicate with community officers. His hope is that it will continue to strengthen relations with the police.
A report shows German crime rates fell by 10% in 2017, with crimes by foreigners down 22.8% amid controversy over crimes by migrants. Murder, drug offences, and burglaries were among the categories to rise.