Istanbul becomes safer as crime rates fall over 17 percent - police chief

Istanbul is one of the safest cities among the major metropoles, according to its police chief, Mustafa Caliskan.

Speaking at the “Metropol Security” conference at Istanbul Aydin University on Thursday, Caliskan said 35,334 police officers and 2,846 neighbourhood guards work to make the city more secure.

With a population of 15 million, Istanbul has more people than 130 entire countries, he said. 

In Istanbul, one police officer is responsible for nearly 400 people. The world average, Caliskan said, 200 people to one police officer. 

Even with a lower number of dedicated police officers per person, “city security in Istanbul is much higher than other metropoles” Caliskan added.

“In 2017, the homicide rate of Istanbul was 2.6 per 100,000 residents, these rates are higher in many developed countries, according to surveys,” Caliskan said.

According to Caliskan, one big problem for metropoles is when foreign nationals get involved in crime. In Istanbul, 5.4 percent crimes were committed by foreign nationals in 2017. 

He noted there has been a 17.5 percent decrease in crime in the city since last year.

How to other major cities fare in 2017?

The murder rate was 3.4 per 100,000 people in New York.

In Brussels, there were 43 homicides in 2017, which amounts to 3.8 per 100,000 inhabitants.

The homicide rate was 62.25 for every 100,000 residents in Cape Town.

In Amsterdam, there were 16 homicide cases that equal to 2 per 100,000 residents in 2017. 

The urban side of Moscow sees 7.52 homicides per 100,000 in 2017.

At least142 homicides occurred in London which makes the rate 1.7 per 100,000.