Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Saudi Crime Rate Highlighted in Study | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat- A total of 87,027 crimes were committed in the year 2003, most of which took place in Riyadh. Riyadh has witnessed 29,799 crimes, whilst the northern border region (Al Hadud al-Shamaliya) has only suffered from 707 criminal acts.

According to statistics released by the Studies and Statistics Department of the Public Security Directorate, the number of premeditated murders in 2003 amounted to 222, while the number of cases of manslaughter reached 45.

The records further stated the following crimes: 921 cases of murder threats and attempted murder, 515 cases of suicide or attempted suicide, 28 cases of assault causing death, 84 reports of kidnapping, 10,221 immoral incidents, 40,748 thefts, 10,706 alcohol offences (drinking, selling or producing alcohol), 326 arson attacks, 11,116 reports of physical assault and fighting, 1,000 cases of forgery, 438 cases of falsification, 783 cases of fraud, 324 cases of identity theft, 3,881 cases of missing persons, 1,305 cases of possession of arms without a license and 4,364 miscellaneous criminal incidents.

Mecca had the highest number of registered murder attempts whilst Ha”il and Al-Baha shared the lowest rate with three cases each.

The Asir region had the highest number of reported manslaughter of which there were none in Tabuk, the northern border or Al-Jouf regions.

Riyadh reported the largest number of threats and attempted murder at 318. The lowest rate of these crimes was registered in the northern border and Najran, both of which had five cases each.

Riyadh also suffered from the highest rate of suicide or attempted suicide with a figure of 157, whilst the lowest number was reported in the northern border region and Najran with 5 cases each.

Riyadh further witnessed 16 cases of physical attacks that let led to death. Mecca, Asir, Medina, Al-Qasim, Jizain, the northern border, Najran and Al-Baha had no reports of such incidents.

Most cases of kidnapping took place in Riyadh, the number of which was 27, however Al-Baha did not report any cases of abduction.

Riyadh further reported the highest number of immoral incidents with a rate of 4,140. The lowest number of such cases, 54, took place in the northern border region.

Mecca suffered from the highest level of theft in 2003 as 15,017 cases were reported here, while Najran witnessed only 229 cases, the lowest rate amongst the regions.

Riyadh, once again had the highest rate of alcohol related crimes, such as drinking, selling or producing alcohol. The number of reported incidents reached 3465 in comparison to Al-Baha, which only reported 69 cases of such crimes.

The highest figure of arson attacks took place in Mecca where the figure reached 61, in comparison to Najran where there were no reports of this kind of crime.

Mecca also witnessed the highest amount of cases of assault and brawl at 3,836 compared to 291 cases in Al-Baha, which had the lowest rate.

Medina however, suffered the highest rate of falsification with 116 reported incidents, while Asir had reported only case.

Mecca reported 254 cases of fraud, while Asir once again had only accounted for one such case. Furthermore, Mecca also reported 131 cases of stolen identities, while neither Al-Baha nor Al-Jouf had experienced any similar cases.

Mecca also suffered the highest number of runaways and missing persons with 1,683 cases compared to only 5 reported cases in Najran.

Riyadh had the highest number of unlicensed weapons with 347 cases in comparison to 25 such cases in Al-Baha.

In the category of miscellaneous crimes, Riyadh once again had the highest rate at 2074 compared to 9 in the northern border region.

The figures provided overall show that Riyadh had the highest crime rate out of all Saudi regions with 29,799 cases. Riyadh is followed by Mecca with 29,731 cases, the Eastern Province with 6,395, Jizan with 3,589, Al-Qasim with 3,406, Medina with 2,997, Ha”il with 2,700, Asir with 2,514, Al-Jouf with 1,974, Tabuk with 1,401, Najran with 901, Al-Baha with 913, and the northern border region with 707 criminal incidents.