Azernews.Az

Azerbaijani Interior Minister Ramil Usubov has said the overall activity of the Baku police in 2007 was satisfactory but pointed to shortfalls and violations in some police departments.
The number of crimes uncovered in 2007 rose 2% compared to 2006 to make up 92.2%, while that of undisclosed cases dwindled by 10.3%, Usubov told a board meeting of the Baku City Police Department (BCPD) on the outcomes of last year. Usubov said the new leadership of the BCPD has achieved tangible results in eliminating the drawbacks discovered during a comprehensive check-up conducted last July. In particular, considerable progress is observed in the disclosure of crimes.
"The number of all types of crimes committed in the capital decreased by 144 to 8,128 last year. This pertains to murders, infliction of severe damages to one's health, plundering, and fraud. The cases of banditry and hostage-taking were not registered at all," the minister said.
At the same time, he noted that the number of grave crimes increased 8.9% to 957, saying the law enforcement agencies were stepping up combat to fight such offenses. The disclosure rate on such crimes has gone up from 69.9% to 84.6% in Baku.
The BCPD chief Rafig Abbasov pounded criticism on the law enforcers, expressing particular discontent with the disclosure rate on robbery-related crimes.
"The city's police bodies failed to take substantial measures to uncover the criminals in 2007," he said, stressing that the cases concerning 16 robberies presumably committed by the same group of individuals remained unresolved since 2004.
Abbasov said some crimes were not registered in police departments on purpose last year. "The officials of some police bodies preferred to avoid registration of robberies in order to artificially improve their indicators."