The Crime, Justice and Security Statistics for year 2020 were published on Wednesday. They comprise data compiled from the Mauritius Police Force, the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions, the Judiciary, the Mauritius Prison Service & the Probation and Aftercare Service. What should be noted is that offences reported to the Police, excluding contraventions, increased from 45 004 in 2019 to 55 402 in 2020. This represents an increase of 23.1%. This is mainly due to a rise in drug offences (+7.4%), partly offset by a decrease in assault (-10.7%).
However, the statistics show that road traffic contraventions have decreased by 28.5%, from 176 692 in 2019 to 126 358 in 2020. The report underline that “exceeding speed limit” decreased by 40.6%, from 81 691 to 48 556.
The report reveals that 19 367 persons were suspected, arrested and/or cautioned in the course of criminal investigations in 2020. This represents an increase of 21.5% (15 941 in 2019). The number of persons prosecuted fell by 10.9% from 14,841 in 2019 to 13,226 in 2020. In the same vein, the number of cases referred by Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to the Intermediate and Supreme Courts decreased by 24.1% from 2019 to 2020 (1 037 to 787 ).
Moreover, the number of criminal cases lodged in Court decreased by 14.3% (80 993 in 2019 to 69 449 in 2020). During the same period, the number of criminal cases disposed of dropped by 40.7% (84 363 to 50 036).
The number of Probation Orders issued decreased by 61.0% (200 in 2019 to 78 in 2020).
The number of offenders, subjected to community service orders, also decreased by 32.6% (524 in 2019 to 353 in 2020).
