Cantabria has closed the year 2022 with an increase of 12.1 percent of the crimes clarified by the Security Forces and Corps, which have gone from 8,302 in 2021 to 9,306 in 2022. A similar increase has occurred in persons detained and/or investigated, with an increase of 16.4%.
The delegate of the Government in Cantabria, Ainoa Quiñones, has highlighted the work carried out by the agents of the Security Forces and Corps in Cantabria, both the National Police and the Civil Guard and the local police, because “all the bodies work in a coordinated and joint way to guarantee social peace, coexistence and security”.
In addition, Quiñones has praised that the Ministry of the Interior has continued in 2022 with the progressive increase in the staffing of the State Security Forces and Corps, specifically an increase of 7.2% since 2018.
“Cantabria counts at the end of 2022 with 1,761 agents of the National Police and the Civil Guard, 128 more than in 2017 when there were 1,633. In this way, the Government of Pedro Sánchez complies with the commitment to increase the staffing of the State Security Forces and Corps,” said the delegate of the Government.
On the other hand, Quiñones has indicated that in 2022 the criminal offenses known to the Security Forces and Bodies (National Police, Civil Guard and local police) increased by 19.2%, up to 23,713 offenses. “The work of the police forces, together with the growing collaboration of citizens and the awareness of the importance of reporting, allows to increase the knowledge of crimes and, therefore, their clarification,” he said.
In 2021, 23,713 criminal offenses were reported in Cantabria compared to 19,894 the previous year. Of the total, 4,817 corresponded to crimes in the field of cybercrime, which in the case of Cantabria has increased by 27.4% compared to 2021 and 130.9% compared to 2019, according to the Crime Balance made public this Friday by the Ministry of the Interior.
With these data, the crime rate in Cantabria stands at 40.5 criminal offenses per 1,000 inhabitants and places the Autonomous Community as the eighth safest in Spain, behind Extremadura (30.4), Asturias (32), Galicia (35.3), Aragón (36.4), Castilla y León (36.7), La Rioja (36.9) and Castilla La Macha (39.4).
With that rate of 40.5 crimes per 1,000 inhabitants, Cantabria is 8.5 points below the crime rate of the country as a whole, which stood at the end of 2022 at 49 criminal offenses per 1,000 inhabitants.
CYBERCRIME ACCOUNTS FOR 20.3% OF INFRINGEMENTS
In the Crime Balance, the indicators have been subdivided into two categories: conventional crime and cybercrime. With this, the Ministry of the Interior wants to have an X-ray improvement of the phenomenon of crime through the Internet.
Thus, in the case of Cantabria, of the 23,713 known criminal offenses in 2022, 20.3% were computer scams and cybercrimes, specifically 4,817. This is 27.4% more than in 2021 and 130.9% compared to 2019, a year in which computer scams to people from the Autonomous Community have increased by 146.7%.
As for conventional crime, 18,896 criminal offenses were known in 2022 in Cantabria, which is 17.3% more than in 2021 (16,112) and 18.2% more than in 2019 (15,987). Compared to the previous year, wilful homicides and consummated murders fell by 75%, vehicle theft fell by 35.7%, and drug trafficking crimes fell by 14.6%.
On the contrary, crimes against sexual freedom showed an upward trend, with an increase of 21.7% and especially those of sexual assault with penetration, with an increase of 47.1%. This increase must be related to the active policies of awareness raising and reducing social tolerance towards this type of crime, which translates into a greater willingness of victims to report and reduces the levels of infraction existing in these types of crime.
There was also an increase in serious and less serious crimes and riot (25.5%), robberies with violence and/or intimidation (26.8%), robberies with force in homes, establishments and other facilities (11.3%) or thefts (27.8%).
For all the known criminal offenses in 2022, the Security Forces and Corps (National Police, Civil Guard and local police) have detained and/or investigated 5,579 people, 16.4% more than in 2021, and have clarified 9,306 crimes, 12.1% more.
MUNICIPALITIES WITH MORE THAN 20,000 INHABITANTS
On the other hand, the Crime Balance includes the safety indicators of the municipalities over 20,000 inhabitants (it takes into account the registered population and not the linked one), which in the case of Cantabria are Santander, Torrelavega, Camargo, Castro Urdiales and Piélagos.
In Santander, 2022 was closed with a crime rate of 43.2 criminal offenses per 1,000 inhabitants and the total number of known crimes increased by 21.6%. Meanwhile, in Torrelavega the crime rate stood at 41.5 and the known criminal offenses rose by 23.7%.
In the case of Camargo, the crime rate at the end of 2022 was 49.1 criminal offenses per 1,000 inhabitants and the increase in known crimes was 11.4%.
In Castro Urdiales, the crime rate stood at 49 and known criminal offenses decreased by 4.5%. Finally, Piélagos closed the year with a crime rate of 31.1 criminal offenses per 1,000 inhabitants and known crimes increased by 27.7%.
All these data are available and can be consulted in the portal enabled for this purpose by the Ministry of the Interior (www.estadisticasdecriminalidad.es).