Istanbul Security Directorate’s ‘A comparison of crime in İstanbul and other metropoles’ report proves that Istanbul is still a safe city even with its population exceeding 15.5 million. The report based on local official data contained information on the population, number of policemen and number of crimes according to their types, from 10 metropoles (five of which are European countries) in addition to Istanbul. The report that revealed the numbers of theft, robbery, pickpocketing, sex offenses and murder proved that Istanbul holds noticeably low figures in crime.

LOW THEFT LEVELS

The report presents tables based on types of offenses. Comparison based on population has been enabled as the average number of crimes matching with a population of 100 thousand people were revealed.  In that event, the number of thievery per 100 thousand people in Istanbul - where last year 9 thousand 203 thieveries were registered-  was been recorded as 55.5. The same figure was registered as 255 in London, 628 in Athens and 244 in Berlin.

EUROPEAN CITIES

London stands out with 33 thousand 190 incidents in terms of robbery and plundering, when estimated over 100 thousand people the figure reached is 407. In proportion to 100 thousand people, the number of same offenses was 463 in Athens, 119 in Berlin and 14 in Istanbul. Similarly, London remained at the top of the list with 30 thousand 767 incidents in motor vehicle theft. This type of offense per 100 thousand people in London with a population of 8 million people was 378. Athens inhabiting 666 thousand people witnessed the highest number of motor vehicle theft files, with a registered number of 14 thousand 753. Motor vehicle theft per 100 thousand people in Athens was recorded as 2 thousand 221. Based on the same rate of population, the number of such crimes was 159 in Berlin, 63 in New York and 20 in Istanbul.

CRIME DENSITY

Istanbul Security Directorate’s report contained the number of offenses per 100 thousand people in addition to the number of incidents and this enabled a making a comparison over the population of the cities. This study includes figures that will put forth the crime density along with the achievements of the police service. The report proved that the ‘megacity’ Istanbul held a low level of crime even with its population of over 15.5 people.