Drastic reduction in crime rate

JEDDAH: The crime rate in Makkah dropped by 28 percent from 2014 to 2015, with over 120,000 illegal expatriates arrested last year, according to the city’s police.

Makkah Police Department Director Col. Saeed Al-Qarni said this has been achieved through better enforcement. This year there would be heightened security during the Haj through a single control room, with several additional security centers introduced to help with the fight against criminals in the holy city.
Makkah has a high-tech 24-hour control center that has been set up to prevent crime and assist people in need. It is linked to 300 cameras and patrols on the ground, and follows up on alerts and requests for assistance received from members of the public via calls and SMSs, a local publication reported recently.
Officers at the center send out patrols to hotspot areas or refer cases to local police stations depending on the type of report received, the publication said. Muhammed Al-Suhaimi, director of security patrols for the city, said more than 150 commissioned and noncommissioned officers work at the center receiving calls in various languages.
Meanwhile, the country’s security agencies dealt with 96,000 crimes in 2015, said Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, spokesman of the Interior Ministry. He said this indicates a 10 percent drop in the rate compared to the previous year. He said 70 percent of the cases were solved.
He said violent crimes rose to 90.4 cases per 100,000 Saudi citizens, and reached their highest levels in Jeddah, Riyadh and Makkah. The ministry said there was a 25.95 percent increase in crimes involving money, and that it dealt with 1,877 cases of embezzlement.