Criminal geography

Altyn Sakeeva

Eastern fairytales
(scary)
Eastern-Kazakhstan oblast, with its population of 1,5 million people, is at the top of the list of the most criminal regions of the country.
Every third crime in Ust-Kamenogorsk is committed by previously prosecuted criminals. In the city there is a settlement-like prison for criminals, which can move about within the city. Some of grave crimes were committed by these cons last year. The local Office the Prosecutor blames the authorities of the prison-settlement for these crimes. Eastern-Kazakhstan oblast has the highest figures of murders – 245, criminal injuring – 277, extortion – 134 and thefts – 9752.

Lights of the big city
The southern capital of Kazakhstan is also characterized by a very high level of crime rate. Almaty is just behind Eastern-Kazakhstan oblast in the crime rate “competition” between them. Last year there were almost 18 thousand crimes. That is for every 10 thousand people there were 144 crimes committed. This figure refers only to the city itself.
Almaty, being the largest city in the country, having the most developed industry and the largest financial flows, attracts people from other cities as flowers attract bees. Migration of farmers influences the growth of crime rate. Adaptation to the life in a city is accompanied by continuous problems, like absence of accommodation and local residence permit. The difficulties are often the motivation for various crimes. The most populated area of Almaty, Auezovskiy region, has the biggest number of crimes. This region, particularly the Shanyrak district, has the largest amount of people, who arrived from outside the city. The area around “Sayran” bus station also has high crime rate, the area is smoothly connected with the “Tastak” construction materials market, which belongs to another region of Amlaty – Almalinskiy region.
Bostandyksky region consists mainly of residential areas. Burglaries and car hijacks are the main crimes in this region. Number of thefts in Zhetysusky region increased by 17,8% last year. The thefts are mainly pocket-picking and are made around the Central Universal Market (barakholka). On the other hand, the number of robberies in this region decreased by 27,8% last year.
The Medeusky region. As mentioned above, the crimes are mainly committed in the areas of habitation of people from outside Almaty and crowded areas. The following territories with high crime rates can be emphasized in the Medeu region: “Duman” district, part of the region that borders with “Sayakhat” bus station, and part of Central Farmer Market.
In the Turksibsky region the area around the railway station “Almaty-1” has historically high crime rate. In Turksibsky region, where most of the population has a low level of income, there are mainly money related crimes.
Comparing the years 2006 and 2005 reveals that the number of grave crimes in the city increased by almost 700 cases; and the number of registered crimes committed by organized groups decreased from 10 to 8. The number of deliberate murders decreased by 5,2% from 173 to 164. However, the resolving rate of the murders decreased and amounts to 80,3% (85% in 2005). 34 cases of murder are not resolved, comparing to 31 in 2005.
 Almaty has the highest number of car hijacks in Kazakhstan (385 during the year). After the organized group, which hijacked expensive cars, was discovered last year, now mainly old cars are hijacked. The cars are than dismantled and sold.
During 2006 410 young offenders were discovered in Almaty. 101 of them study in schools, lyceums and gymnasiums. The crimes relating to property are common among the teenagers, such as robberies, thefts and burglaries.
42,2% of all crimes in the city were resolved. Hopefully, map of Almaty will have lower crime indicators in 2007. Many projects improving of the city’s infrastructure and creating satellite towns are planned to be implemented; they would increase the employment. The program “Safe City” will make it easier to monitor crime. Its aim is ensuring the safety of people by improving and integrating the security organizations of the city.

Near the capital
Pavlodarskaya oblast, with the population of 743850 people, is on the third place by the number of crimes. The experiment on the alternative way of registering the crimes in the oblast has been carried out from 1st of July till 31st of December. Previously, such measures were implemented in other regions of the country, such as Almaty, Astana, Almatinskaya, Zhambylskaya and Akmolinskaya oblasts. Pavlodar was chosen because it is close to the capital and is in a difficult situation regarding crimes. The analysis of the data of the law enforcement organizations showed that during the experiment there was an increase in the statements about the crimes in all regions of the oblast comparing to the same period of 2005.
Karagandinskaya oblast is the fourth by the crime rate. However, the population in the oblast is almost twice bigger than in Pavlodarskaya oblast. According to the Statistics Agency of Karagandinskaya oblast, Temirtau has the biggest share of crimes. The lowest level of resolving the crimes in the IGC category (investigation of general crimes) relates to Temirtau – 55,4%. This indicator in Balkhash is 57,7% and 58,4% in Karaganda. The highest level of resolving the crimes is achieved in Karakalisnky (93,4%) and Ulytausky (93,3%) regions.
Kostanayskaya oblast is on the fifth place. It’s population is 901750 people. The following is an extract from the statement of Moldiyar Orazaliev, the Head of the Department of Internal Affairs (DIF), published on the website www.zakon.kz: “Less grave crimes were committed on the territory of Kostanayskaya oblast in 2006. Comparing to 2005, we could stabilize the crime rate, decrease the number of crimes related to deliberate injuring, raping or robbery. Due to the prevention measures, number of burglaries, car hijacks and thefts of cattle decreased. These crimes are resolved without delays, many are now under investigation.”
However, the robberies problem in important in the oblast. Most of them, 454 robberies, are made in Kostanay. According to the Head of the DIF of the oblast, it became easier to committee a robbery than a theft. Usually the criminals snatch out purses or mobile phones from women or young people. The head of the DIF in going to use Almaty’s experience in fighting the crime on the streets. The special unit “Buran” quickly arrives at the crime scene and takes actions to detain the suspected criminals. Their location is then registered on the electronic map of the city.

Calm sea
Mangystauskaya oblast is at the end of our rating. However, the gap between this oblast and the “leaders” doesn’t make it less noticeable. There is something it can be proud of (without the inverted commas). The picture is as follows, with the population of almost 400 thousand people, there were 3 thousand crimes. It is the lowest level in the country. The first reason is that Mangystauskaya oblast has the lowest population in Kazakhstan. For example, the population of Eastern-Kazakhstan oblast is about 3,5 times bigger. Another reason is that there are the second highest wages in this oblast after Atyrauskaya oblast. Hence, the socio-economic situation can be considered favorable.

The article was made according to the data provided by the Department of Committee of Statistics and Special Data of the Office of the General Prosecutor of the Republic of Kazakhstan covering Almaty and Committee of Legal Statistics and Special Data of the Office of the General Prosecutor of the Republic of Kazakhstan.