Crime figures offer only a limited reflection of the reality of criminal behaviour: on the one hand, sentencing norms are affected by changes in society and on the other, criminal statistics are strongly influenced by labour resources, prosecution priorities, the efficiency of the police and justice system and the population’s readiness to report crime. It is hard, however, to quantify the influence of these different factors.
Police crime reports
In 2018, the following number of offences were recorded in the Police Crime Statistics: 432 754 under the Swiss Criminal Code (SCC), 76 308 under the Narcotics Act (NarcA) and 38 4054 under the Foreign Nationals Act (FNA). The percentage of homicide cases solved was 95%, but that of property offences was only 23%. With regard to domestic violence, the police recorded 18 522 offences. Half of these offences took place within a current partnership. A breakdown of persons charged with a crime by nationality and residence status shows that 48% of offences under the Criminal Code and 56% of offences under the Narcotics Act were committed by Swiss citizens. Foreigners with permanent residence in Switzerland accounted for 31% and 23% respectively of offenders, foreigners without permanent residence for 21% in both cases. For offences against the Foreign Nationals Act, 82% of offenders were non-residents.
Convictions
Whereas in the mid-1980s, slightly more than 45 000 convictions against adults were registered, this number has now more than doubled and in 2018 was approximately 107 000. Depending on the law under which the conviction was made, the trend varies greatly. Since reaching an all-time high in 2013, a decline of 16% has been recorded for crimes against the Swiss Criminal Code. With regard to the Road Traffic Act (SVG), the ever-increasing road traffic checks between 1984 and 2014 led to more cases with convictions. Since 2014, however, the number of convictions has declined by 4%. Since 2015, convictions against the Narcotics Act have shown a downward trend (–19%). Convictions for crimes against the Foreign Nationals Act have fallen by 7% since 2013, reaching 18 000 in 2018.
Convictions of minors
Convictions of minors showed a clear decline between 2011 and 2012 (–26%). The number of offences against the Narcotics Act increased between 2010 and 2015 and has been stable since then. Convictions for theft and violent offences have fallen considerably.
Imprisonment
In 2018, there were 104 (mostly small) prison establishments with a total of 7 518 detention places in Switzerland. In 2018, 6 972 persons were in detention. The total occupancy rate was 93%. Of the 6 972 inmates, 67% were serving custodial sentences, 26% were in pre-trial detention, 4% were in detention subject to coercive measures under the Foreign Nationals Act, and the remaining 3% were detained for other reasons.
Recidivism
The reconviction rates of adults convicted in 2013 for crimes and less serious offences, over an observation period of 3 years (i.e. until 2016) was 20%, that of minors 27%. The lowest reconviction rate was seen among people with no previous criminal record (adults: 13%; minors: 21%).
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