House burglaries growth area for crime

Crime increased in the Czech Republic last year by around 7 percent, the national police force announced on Monday. Police said they were faced with a work load of around 325,000 cases. One of the biggest increases last year was in burglaries of homes with a 20 percent rise in cases over the previous 12 months. Many newly completed homes had minimal security, police said. There were, however, six fewer murders than the previous year.

One of the biggest causes of the crime wave was the controversial amnesty of prisoners granted by former president Václav Klaus at the start of 2013. Police said they are now on the tracks of around 40 percent of the 6,300 prisoners released at the time.