Basic Problems of Robbery Detection (From Policing in Central and Eastern Europe: Dilemmas of Contemporary Criminal Justice, P 360-366, 2004, Gorazd Mesko, et al., eds. -- See NCJ-207973)

• NCJ Number: 208002
• Author(s): Zvonimir Dujmovic; Ljiljana Miksaj-Todorovic
• Date Published: September 2004
• Length: 7 pages
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)

Annotation

This study assessed the ability of the Croatian police to counter a continuing increase in robberies in that country.

Abstract

The percentage of robberies among the total number of crimes in Croatia has continued to increase from 1994 through 2003. At the same time, the percentage of robberies solved by the police has tended to decline. This paper attributes this poor police performance to the allocation and training of police personnel. Over the last 10 years, the number of police officers directly involved in crime-solving has been reduced in local police stations, and local stations do not have officers who have been specially trained to deal with specific types of crime. In addition, there is little cooperation between uniformed officers and criminal investigators in pursuing robbery cases. Uniformed officers are the first on the scene, but they do little but wait for criminal investigators to come to the scene, at which time the investigators assume responsibility for the case. Uniformed officers should be trained to perform specific tasks when they arrive at the scene, so as to take advantage of fresh memories of victims and any eyewitnesses. Uniformed officers and investigators should then cooperate in collecting evidence at the scene. 4 tables and 16 references