Interior Minister Dragutin Mate highlighted positive crime resolution rate statistics, as he presented on Wednesday his ministry's achievements in this term. On the other hand, Mate said that cooperation between the police and local communities could be better.
One of the ministry's main goals was to stop the trend from the 2002-2004 period, when the resolution rate was dropping, Mate told the press. According to him, the drop almost stopped in 2005 and since then the rate has been increasing by around 2 percentage points yearly.
The number of offences against public order has dropped from 62,000 in 2003 to 59,000 in 2004, 53,000 in 2005, and has stayed at some 48,000 in the last few years.
Mate added that the ministry also managed to cut the number of people killed and injured in traffic accidents. In July 2008, 18 people died on Slovenian roads, while the number stood at 38 last year, he said.
The road death toll in the first half of the year was meanwhile 30% down compared to 2007.
The police have also recorded a fall in the number of illegal immigrants. The number decreased from 5,600 in 2004 to less than 2,500 in the last couple of years. The minister attributes this to legislative changes and organised work of the police.
In the last four years, the police acquired additional vehicles, while 35 police stations have been renovated and DNA laboratories have been upgraded.
Surveys show that people's trust into the police is quite high, at 96%, Mate noted, adding that this is the share of respondents who marked the work of the police with 3 to 5 on a one-to-five scale.
The ministry has also striven to make its services cheaper and more accessible. Now citizens have access to certain services everywhere in Slovenia regardless of their permanent residence.
Furthermore, Slovenia introduced biometric passports and will soon get plastic driver's licences. Changes to legislation also brought the simplification of procedures for reporting stolen or lost documents.
Mate also expressed satisfaction with Slovenia's entry into the Schengen zone and added that the ministry had cleared the backlog of some 8,000 applications for citizenship since December 2004.
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