Number of theft cases declines in Oman

Muscat: Cases of theft have fallen in February by 32 per cent compared to February last year, revealed a senior official at the Royal Oman Police.
The official said that during February, they arrested 95 suspects guilty of theft across all
the Sultanate’s Governorates. Fifty-one were Omanis and the rest expats.
In February last year, 118 suspects were arrested.
In February 2017, 109 cases of robbery were registered compared to 161 during the same period in 2016.
According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information, one crime is committed every 28 minutes in the Sultanate.
The number of registered criminals represents just 0.64 per cent of the population. 2015 was a record low year for the number of crimes committed, with 18,860 registered, compared to 22,624 in 2014 and 26,602 in 2013. There was a 17 per cent dip in crimes in 2015 compared to 2014.
However, data suggests that four crimes are committed per 1,000 population, with one crime being committed every 28 minutes. According to a report published by the Oman Public Prosecution, robbery topped the list of crimes committed in the Sultanate in 2015. It accounted for 6,780 of the total crimes committed that year.
The public prosecution handled 41,072 cases in 2015, compared to 45,306 in 2014, reflecting a 9.3 per cent decrease. A total of 3,620 reports received by the public prosecution were about felonies, a 22.5 per cent decrease compared to 2014 when 4,205 such instances were recorded.