As shown by the data from the report on police activities for 2010, last year was marked particularly by improved traffic safety and more effective white collar crime investigation.
In spite of a higher number of traffic accidents in this period, the number of deaths, serious and slight injuries declined. In 2010, the police also recorded the highest proportion of investigated criminal offences and considered cases of white collar crime during the past decade.
In 2010, the police dealt with 21,347 road accidents, representing a 3.7 per cent increase on the same period last year. As many as 138 persons died in these accidents (171 in 2009), representing a 19.3 per cent decline on 2009. As compared with 2009, the number of serious injuries was down 16.2 per cent and the number of slight injuries 14.7 per cent.
Almost one third of road accidents resulting in death were due to drunk driving. As a result, the work of the police became increasingly focused on the prevention and identification of perpetrators of most serious offences and multiple instances of disregard for the highway code.
Changes in traffic regulations aimed at imposing more severe sanctions and taking more efficient actions in case of violations that are the most frequent cause of road accidents with the gravest consequences also contributed to enhanced traffic safety. Improved road traffic safety is also a result of concerted action undertaken by all state authorities and the civil society in implementing the resolution on the national programme on road traffic safety. The new concept of road traffic control, which is spread from the Celje Police Directorate to the area of competence of other police directorates, has also proved to be successful.
In 2010, the police also recorded the highest proportion of investigated criminal offences and considered cases of white collar crime during the past decade. Although the number of considered criminal offences exceeded that in 2009 by 2,026, the number of investigated criminal offences rose by 3.3 percentage points (from 48.3 to 51.6 per cent). Perpetrators of criminal offences caused EUR 557.3 million of damage (EUR 278 million the year before), of which EUR 505.4 million (EUR 193.3 million) through white collar crime alone. The prosecution of white collar and financial crime and corruption is one of the priorities of the police, which is reflected in the fact that the police dealt with more than 13,000 cases of white collar crime or 41.1 per cent more than in 2009.
Important changes in the field of prevention, identification and investigation of the more serious forms of white collar crime, corruption and other forms of criminality were also brought about by the establishment of the National Bureau of Investigation which launched its operations immediately and dealt with 17 complex cases last year. In the area of white collar crime and corruption, the Bureau collected the information about suspected commission of 68 criminal offences, and in 23 cases the Bureau laid an information against 73 suspects.
In addition to the already existing possibility of anonymous e-notification of corruption, the possibility of anonymous electronic notification of violations, criminal offences and family violence, trading in humans and missing and disappeared persons was also introduced last year.