Police charge less people with violent crimes in '07

Haifa police charged fewer people with crimes of violence in 2007 than in 2006, but charged more with drug crimes.

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY
Haifa police charged fewer people with crimes of violence in 2007 than in 2006, but charged more with drug crimes, reports the Hebrew weekly Yediot Haifa. In a summary of their activities for the year, police said the mixed results were not caused by any actual rise in the number of drug crimes, but should be attributed to greater police activity on the drug front, especially against youths. According to the report, police opened 10 percent more cases against adults and 23.5% more cases against youths for the possession, use or sale of drugs in 2007 than in 2006. Some 1,300 adults and 297 minors were charged with drug offenses in 2007. At the same time, police opened 21.3% fewer cases against minors on charges of violence than they did in 2006. Police also reported a significant drop in the number of murders, with two murders in 2007 compared to nine in 2006. But they also reported a large rise in the number of people charged with carrying a knife without good reason - up 18.7% to 451. A police spokesman said that in 2007 police had acted more intensively to search out and expose specific criminal centers, resulting in less violence overall and more arrests for crimes such as carrying unauthorized weapons. Meanwhile, the Haifa magistrates' court reported that 5% more people were brought before it on criminal charges in 2007 than in 2006. Some 3,450 adults and 695 minors were brought before the court for their initial appearance and were released on bail in 2007.