How Police Communicate: Analysis of Press Releases on Local Safety

Based on the analysis of the press releases from the website of the Ministry of the Interior for a period of two and a half years, one gets the impression that the MoI prioritises criminal offences that have a higher degree of organization than opportunistic and impulsive crimes, even when the latter appear to be more numerous. Consequently, in the MoI press releases, the most common criminal offences are drug trafficking, manufacturing or acquiring weapons, ammunition and explosive substances, aggravated theft and robbery, while according to the official data of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia (SORS) this is not the case.

The aim of this analysis is to increase the transparency of the work of the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia at the national and local level and to improve the understanding of crime in the country. In addition, the objective is also to stir the improvement of the role of local Safety Councils in crime prevention and to identify short-term and long-term effects of crime on the security of citizens in local communities (in rural and urban areas) in Serbia. In addition, the research mapped and ranked geographical areas in Serbia with high intensity of crime.

The report was published as part of the project “Behind Official Police Press Releases: Local Security and Crime Reporting” supported by the OSCE Mission to Serbia. The content and information presented in this publication belong exclusively to the authors and the BCSP, and do not necessarily represent the official views of the OSCE Mission to Serbia or any other related organization.