Statistics on crime, justice and security – Q2 2022 to Q3 2023 |05 January 2024

Surge in theft and burglaries recorded

Theft, offences against persons and burglaries increased significantly over the first three quarters of 2023.

According to the latest published statistics on crime, justice and security by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), law enforcement has observed that the three crime categories are the primary contributors influencing the surge in police reactive cases, from the second quarter of 2022 to the third quarter of 2023.

During the third quarter of 2023 there was a notable uptick of 16.8 percent in reactive police cases compared to the preceding quarter.

The instances of theft saw a noticeable fluctuation throughout the course of the past year. In the third quarter of 2022, there were 247 recorded cases, increasing to 283 cases in the subsequent fourth quarter. As for 2023, the numbers continued to escalate with 319 cases reported in the first quarter, followed by a further increase to 336 cases in the second quarter. The upward trend persisted into the third quarter, recording 355 cases.

In terms of offences against persons, the third quarter of 2023 witnessed a total of 247 recorded cases, marking a rise of 40 cases compared to the previous quarter. The first quarter of 2023 also accounted for 231 cases. Looking back at the figures from 2022, the incidents remained below 200 cases in the latter part of the year, with 188 cases in the fourth quarter and 197 cases in the third quarter.

While the data suggests a relatively stable number of theft cases from the third quarter of 2022 through the first quarter of 2023, standing at 178 cases, a notable shift occurred in the second quarter of 2023, with the figure rising to 198. This upward trend continued into the third quarter, reaching 217 cases. Police reactive cases relate to police response to public calls for assistance.

As for cases generated by the police from surveillance, during the second quarter of 2023, the police recorded a total of 4,407 cases, which slightly decreased to 4,381 in the third quarter, reflecting a 0.6 percent reduction. Among these cases, road traffic accidents emerged as the predominant crime category, constituting a substantial 71 percent, followed by public order offences at 15.5 percent, and drugs at 7.9 percent.

Analysing the specifics within the road traffic accident category, the primary offences include failure to wear seat belts at 33.1 percent, and parking offences at 22.4 percent.

In relation to public order offences, a noteworthy observation is that 81 percent of cases are attributed to the consumption of alcohol in public places.

Furthermore, an astonishing 348 offenses related to drugs were documented in the third quarter of 2023, marking a significant surge from the 261 recorded in the preceding quarter. The first quarter of the year saw a figure of 294, representing an increase from the 275 cases reported in the final quarter of 2022. Almost 90 percent of drug-related cases are associated with the possession of controlled substances. Other offences within this crime category cultivation and trafficking of controlled substances.

With regard to the intake of remanded prisoners into prison, there was a decline of 17.5 percent from the second quarter of 2023 to the third quarter, dropping from 103 to 85 remandees. For convicted prisoners, there was a substantial increase of 57.6 percent in the number of receptions into prison.

Both remandee and convicted prisoner populations exhibit a concentration in the age group of 28 to 37, accounting for almost 40 percent in each category, respectively. Additionally, it was observed that nine out of 10 remandees and convicted prisoners were male.

The crime, justice and security statistics are compiled based on data from the Police Department, Employment Tribunal, Family Tribunal, Probation Services, Prison Department, and Seychelles Revenue Commission (SRC).

Laura Pillay