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China's Ministry of Public Security said crimes involving guns and bombings dropped by 44.9 percent and 36.2 percent respectively last year, compared with the figure in 2012.
Although the ministry did not provide exact number of gun crimes and bombings that took place last year, it said the number dropped due to the series of massive security campaigns. The ministry also conducted a crackdown on online gun trade, going after forums, websites, and chat rooms, resulting to the substantial drop in the number of crimes involving guns and explosives.
The online crackdown also resulted to the deletion of 107,000 posts related to guns and bomb-related topics. It also shut down up to 1,300 websites that either sell or discuss guns and explosives.
Overall Criminality Also Dropped
The figure released by the ministry on Friday also showed that overall criminality in the country dropped 1.7 percent last year compared to 2012. "Cases of severe violence also dropped 10.7 percent in 2013 from the previous year," the ministry said during a conference. Theft and robbery cases in residential areas also dropped 5.9 percent and 20.1 percent respectively. The ministry, however, did not provide data on the number of suspects arrested and the number of cases that have already been resolved in court.
Digital Laboratory
The digital laboratory installed in Beijing has also helped authorities in prosecuting cases, which could have led to the drop in the number of crimes last year, experts said. The laboratory has the capability to retrieve deleted messages and other information from a suspect's mobile phone. The laboratory was established in 2008. Since its installation, the digital laboratory has already been used by 300 prosecutors to extract digital evidence in at least 200 cases. Aside from going after crimes against persons and properties, China also launched intensified campaign against environment-related crimes.
The police departments were even tasked to investigate cases involving environmental pollution, especially those that are severe enough to be considered crimes, and go after violators.
