Crime rate marginally down

• Fewer victims of common crime
• Feelings of safety have not improved further
• One in six residents feel unsafe in their own neighbourhood

The proportion of Dutch aged 15 years and older who report to have been
victims of common crimes like vandalism, violence and property offences has
been reduced marginally last year to just over 25 percent, more or less the
same proportion as in 2008. Another 25 percent of interviewed occasionally
felt unsafe. According to the Safety Monitor published by Statistics
Netherlands, this percentage has remained stable in recent years.

In 2009, nearly 27 percent in the Dutch population were victims of common
crime versus just over 25 percent in 2010. Fewer vandalism victims chiefly
accounted for the reduction. The percentage of crime victims has hardly
dropped relative to 2008, when 26 percent of residents experienced one or
more crimes.

By the end of last year, 26 percent of Dutch residents occasionally felt unsafe,
i.e. about the same percentage as in 2009 and 2008. The proportion of
residents who often felt unsafe remained stable around 2 percent in recent
years.

In general, residents tend to feel safer in their own neighbourhoods than
eIsewhere. Approximately one in every six residents report to feel unsafe in
their own neighbourhood occasionally, more or less the same proportion as in
the two preceding years.

Feelings of unsafety, in general as well as in their own neighbourhood, are
more obvious among residents of highly urbanised regions. About one in three
residents of the police districts of Amsterdam–Amstelland, Haaglanden,
Rotterdam–Rijnmond and Limburg–Zuid by the end of 2010 reported to feel
unsafe occasionally. In those districts, people also more often report to feel
unsafe in their own neighbourhoods. This is in line with the number of crime
victims, which is distinctly above average in more urbanised police districts.