Based on the data received from the Information Center of the Police of the Republic of Armenia, the Department for Crimes against Property of the RA General Prosecutor's Office summed up the results of burglary cases and their development trends in the first quarter of 2022. Statistics show that tangible positive results have been registered.

 

In particular, in 2022, in the first quarter, 284 cases of apartment burglaries were registered in the republic, if in 2021, 325 such cases were registered for the same period, i.e. the number of cases decreased by 41 or 12.6%.

 

In parallel, in 2021, the detection rate of burglaries in the first quarter was 41.6%, and in 2022 - 51.6%. In other words, the disclosure rate increased by 10%.

 

At the same time, positive trends in the effectiveness of the fight against this type of crime have been maintained since 2020. If for the whole of 2020, compared to the previous year, the number of burglaries decreased by 25.8%, then in 2021, compared to 2020, by 5.2%. In parallel, if in 2020 26.7% of cases of burglary were detected compared to 21.1% in 2019, then in 2021 the detection of crimes of this type was 27.2% compared to 26.7% for 2020.

 

Continuation of these trends in 2022 is essential because if in 2020 the decrease in burglaries and the positive results of their detection were greatly influenced by the fact that citizens remained in their places of residence due to restrictions caused by the coronavirus, then in 2021 and especially in 2022 the main reason for such a result, obviously, is that the RA Prosecutor's Office back in 2019 declared the fight against this type of crime a priority, in view of this, comprehensive measures are being taken to prevent crimes, detect crimes in hot pursuit.

 

In particular, the Prosecutor General Artur Davtyan instructed the prosecutor's office employees to compile a map of the most dangerous and vulnerable places in terms of this type of crime for three years. The reasons that contributed to the occurrence of recorded cases are identified, on the elimination of which prosecutors send petitions and conclusions with specific proposals to the relevant authorities.

 

In addition, with the involvement of the police, local authorities and housing authorities, video cameras are installed on the roads most visited by criminals, at their intersections. However, despite the slower pace than expected, the entrances of apartment buildings are being equipped with combination locks, doors, lighting fixtures and video surveillance devices. Police units provide a relatively wider range of services in areas and residential areas of interest to criminals.

 

Investigations conducted by the prosecutor's office showed that the low rates of disclosure of thefts were due to particularly insufficient cooperation between the investigative and operational-investigative bodies, the superficial execution of the proper investigative actions that are necessary for the immediate disclosure of the crime.

 

The Department for Crimes against Property of the General Prosecutor's Office identified all of the above issues, resulting in a methodological manual that has been developed by the Prosecutor’s Office employees and has been put into circulation for the investigation of burglaries. The forensic features of burglaries and practical issues that arise during the conduct of operational-search activities are analyzed, the features of planning an investigation, possible investigative hypotheses, their verification, detection of crimes, identification of the perpetrators, urgent investigative actions, their tactical features are determined in the manual.

 

The criminal law fight against burglaries will become more effective if the above guidelines are applied by the investigators, as well as if the preventive measures provided by the prosecutor's office continue to be applied.