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Crime in Poland

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Polish police in the city of Sanok.

Crime in Poland is combated by the Polish police and other government agencies. Poland's homicide rate is among the lowest in Europe and the country ranks 25th in Global Peace Index in 2022.

Crime by type

Murder

Further information: List of countries by intentional homicide rate

In 2011, Poland had a murder rate of 1.2 per 100,000 population.[1] There were a total of 449 murders in Poland in 2011. In 2014 Poland had a murder rate of 0.7 per 100,000. There were a total 283 murders in Poland in 2014.[1] In 2020, the homicide rate in Poland was 0.71 per 100,000 similar to recent years and down from a high of 2.4 per 100,000 in 1993 and 1994.[2]

Organized crime

The most well known of the Polish organized crime groups in the 1990s were the so-called Pruszkow and the Wolomin gangs.[3]

The first war against organized crime was won by Poland in the 90s. This war was aimed at large gangs. The state triumphed and so we no longer have the gangs of Wolomin and Pruszkow,” said Mr Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz at the press conference at the MI. Head of the MI added that at the moment there were about 200 criminal groups operating across Poland which were under constant police monitoring. “For none of them the situation is likely to return to the one observed in the 90s” said Minister Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz.

Polish organized crime emerged in the 1990s, when the traditional criminal underworld became better organised due to rising corruption.[4] Organized crime groups were well known (1992) for operating sophisticated car theft-rings,[5] as well as for their involvement in drug trafficking (the main drug being amphetamine) and weapon trafficking.

Main article: Pruszków mafia

The Pruszków mafia was an organized criminal group that emerged from the Warsaw suburb of Pruszków in the beginning of the 1990s. The group is known for being involved in large car-theft rings, drug trafficking (including cocaine, heroin, hashish and amphetamine), kidnapping, extortion, weapon trafficking (including AK-47's) and murder. Even though law enforcement dealt a severe blow to the Pruszków mafia, it is alleged that Pruszków-based gangs, with or without notice from their former leaders, have regained their strength in recent years and have begun setting up their car-theft rings and connections with Colombian drug cartels again.[6]

New generation patrol car of Polish state police

A similar organized crime group known as the Wołomin mafia from Wołomin near Warsaw, with whom they fought bloody turf wars,[7] was crushed by the Polish police in cooperation with the German police in a spectacular raid on a highway between Konin and Poznan in September 2011.[8]

Corruption

Main article: Corruption in Poland

Poland ranked 30th in the 175 country listing the Corruption Perception Index for 2015.[9] It is the tenth successive year in which Poland's score and ranking has improved in the Index.

Polish cities most affected by crime

Polish cities most affected by crime, 2006.[10]
# City Number of crimes per
100,000 inhabitants
1. Sobótka 7063,7
2. Chorzów 6733,3
3. Legnica 6361,5
4. Kalisz 6228,2
5. Gdańsk 6133,7
6. Poznań 6109,2
7. Wrocław 5983,4
8. Kraków 5974,2
9. Kielce 5926,6
10. Gliwice 5733,5
11. Opole 5649,8
12. Włocławek 5626,9
13. Warszawa 5353,2
14. Bytom 5332,5
15. Elbląg 5328,1
16. Zielona Góra 5193,2
17. Tarnów 5187,3
18. Gorzów Wielkopolski 5156,6
19. Szczecin 5120,9
20. Toruń 5120,2
21. Łódź 5116,4
22. Sosnowiec 5051,7
23. Bielsko-Biała 4969,1
24. Lublin 4968,7
25. Zabrze 4808,8
26. Wałbrzych 4710,2
27. Dąbrowa Górnicza 4690,8
28. Radom 4670,1
29. Bydgoszcz 4515,1
30. Rybnik 4500,7
31. Gdynia 4328,1
32. Olsztyn 4317
33. Koszalin 4004,7
34. Ruda Śląska 3945,3
35. Rzeszów 3890,9
36. Tychy 3842,7
37. Częstochowa 3786,5
38. Płock 3262,5
39. Białystok 2977

Crime dynamics

While local organized crime in Poland existed during the interwar period, it has mostly developed since the fall of communism (late 1980s/1990s) with the introduction of free market system in Poland and the lessening of the police (milicja) power.

Crime in Poland is lower than in many countries of Europe.[11]

Newer studies (2009) report that the crime victimisation rate in Poland is constantly decreasing, and in 2008 Poland was at a low end of 25 among the 36 European countries listed.[12][13] A 2004 report on security concerns of European Union residents indicated that the Polish public (along with that of Greece) are the most afraid of crime, a finding which does not correlate with the actual crime threat.[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Global Study on Homicide. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2013.
  2. ^ "DATAUNODC". Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  3. ^ "Head of the Polish MI on the priorities and key strategies of the Ministry - News - Ministry of the Interior and Administration". Msw.gov.pl. Retrieved 2018-04-22.
  4. ^ Organised Crime in Europe, Springer.com, 2004.
  5. ^ The Christian Science Monitor, April 13, 1992.
  6. ^ "Gang pruszkowski znów rośnie w siłę | zyciewarszawy.pl" (in Polish). Zw.com.pl. 2017-09-08. Retrieved 2018-04-22.
  7. ^ Klaus Bachmann (1970-01-01). ""Nikos" Skotarczak starb bei Frühstück im Nachtclub: Gründervater der Auto-Mafia erschossen | Berliner Zeitung". Berliner-zeitung.de. Retrieved 2018-04-22.
  8. ^ Ag. (29 September 2011), Policja rozbiła gang samochodowy z Wołomina. Widowiskowa akcja na autostradzie Super Express, Kronika kryminalna.
  9. ^ "Corruption Perceptions Index 2015". Archived from the original on 29 August 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  10. ^ Wprost, June 2006
  11. ^ J. van Dijk, J. van Kesteren, P. Smit, Criminal Victimisation in International Perspective, Key Findings from the 2004-2005 ICVS and EU ICS Archived 2008-12-19 at the Wayback Machine, WODC 2007
  12. ^ A. Siemaszko, B. Gruszczyńska, M. Marczewski Atlas przestępczości w Polsce 4, Instytut Wymiaru Sprawiedliwości, 2009
  13. ^ E. Siedlecka, Lawinowy spadek przestępczości, Gazeta Wyborcza, 2.3.2009
  14. ^ J. van Dijk, R. Manchin, J. van Kesteren, S. Nevala, G. Hideg The Burden of Crime in the EU Archived 2009-12-29 at the Wayback Machine Research Report: A Comparative Analysis of the European Crime and Safety Survey (EU ICS) 2005

Further reading

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