Crime drops by 15 per cent in Palma, says police report

Delinquency in Palma has dropped by 15 per cent, according to the police report presented yesterday by Eduardo Pérez Estremera, commander in chief of the National Police (CNP). The police unions had claimed that there was a “serious increase” in the number of crimes committed in Palma, but the police chief denied the charges, saying that the higher figures reflected in the report were a result of National Police now handling cases which in the past were the task of the Local (municipal) Police (PL). Statistics show that the CNP handled 11'081 cases and the PL 10'479 in the period January to August 2000. This was a total of 21'560 cases. During the same period this year, the CNP has handled 14'098 cases and the PL only 4'125 cases. This is a total of 3'337 cases fewer than last year, a drop of 15.4 per cent, the police chief pointed out. “And that is the real situation of delinquency in Palma,” Perez said yesterday. He went on to say that there had been a drop in the number of cases handled at the police stations in Manacor and Ibiza, but an increase in Mahon and Ciutadella. Asked about the results of the Police 2000 project, he denied that only three officers had been assigned to investigate international crime, and said that the Drugs and Organised Crime Squad has 41 officers in Palma alone.