Criminal case
A criminal case , or case for short , is any execution of a criminal offense of which state authorities come to the knowledge and which leads to police or other criminal investigations.
A case that remains unresolved after the usual investigation options have been exhausted and is no longer pursued due to a lack of further investigative approaches is referred to as a cold case. Cold-case investigations are carried out whenever there are new indications or findings, or if new methods of investigation are available for secured traces that still make an investigation seem possible .
Germany
The police crime statistics (Germany) are the ultimate database for the number of criminal cases in Germany.
A case that has become known is every illegal (criminal) act listed in the catalog, including attempts that are threatened with punishment and based on a report processed by the (criminal) police . Only cases are recorded that are sufficiently specified. Verified evidence to the facts themselves, the fulfillment of all the constituent elements of a criminal standard, the scene of the crime and the time of the crime, at least to the year available. In accordance with the registration rules, in large-scale proceedings only processes according to the number of those directly affected are to be recorded for the PKS if these are sufficiently substantiated by factual and / or personal evidence.
A cleared-up case is the criminal offense which, according to the results of the police investigation , has committed at least one suspect whose personal details are generally known.
A case that was subsequently cleared up was only recorded as "known" in one year and is only recorded in the statistics as "cleared up" in a later year.
Traffic offenses are not statistically recorded as criminal cases. Fall under
- all violations of regulations that were issued to maintain road, rail, ship and air traffic,
- all negligence offenses caused by traffic accidents ,
- the escape from traffic accidents ,
- all violations of the compulsory insurance law and motor vehicle tax law i. V. m. Section 370 AO.
Not counted among the traffic offenses and are therefore recorded in the PKS
- dangerous interference with rail, air and ship traffic in accordance with Section 315 of the Criminal Code,
- dangerous interference in road traffic according to § 315b StGB,
- the improper manufacture, distribution or issuing of license plates according to § 22a StVG.
Demarcation
In principle, every criminal act that becomes known in the course of an investigation is to be recorded as a single case, regardless of the number of victims. Every criminal offense that has been investigated is to be recorded as one case, regardless of the number of suspects identified.
In principle, every new active approach to further realization of the facts is considered a new act.
If an act realizes several offenses or the same offense more than once, then only 1 case is to be recorded, regardless of the number of those involved. If several criminal offenses are realized through an act, this is to be recorded under the criminal offense code number assigned to the criminal law with the severest threat of punishment in terms of type and extent.
If actions are directed against different victims and if they can be assigned to different crime code numbers, each case is a separate case.
If actions are directed against different victims and if they are to be assigned to the same crime code number, so-called serial offenses to the detriment of different victims, they are to be recorded as one case for each victim.
If actions are directed against the same person concerned or against the legal system / general public and are to be assigned to the same criminal offense code number, so-called serial offenses to the detriment of the same person concerned, only one case must be recorded.
Examples:
- The suspect injures the person concerned with a knife: 1 case of dangerous bodily harm. Material damage to clothing is not recorded.
- The suspect deliberately caused the death of 5 victims by causing an explosive explosion: 1 case of murder with 5 victims. The cause of the explosion is not recorded.
- The suspect commits a shoplifting, a property damage and a promotion creep one after the other. One case is recorded each, a total of 3 cases.
- The suspect steals objects from 10 vehicles, at least 1 case, maximum 10 cases: If objects from several persons directly affected are stolen from a vehicle, only one case is recorded. If several vehicles belong to the same direct owner, a total of 1 case must be recorded for these vehicles.
- The suspect commits several shoplifting over a period of several months to the detriment of two department store branches of the same group: Two cases of shoplifting are to be recorded (because there are two different persons directly affected).
- The suspect pollutes a body of water over a longer period of time: It is a case to record water pollution (because the legal system / general public has been damaged).
- The suspect ("tire stabber") damaged tires on 10 vehicles . 5 vehicles from 5 different (private) owners and 5 vehicles from a car rental company are affected: 6 cases of property damage to vehicles are recorded because 6 different owners are affected.
statistics
Since 2000, Germany has recorded 6,000 to 8,000 known cases per 100,000 inhabitants every year.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c PKS 2018 - Guidelines for the keeping of police crime statistics (PDF, 423KB) page 6 section Explanation of terms
- ↑ PKS 2018 - Guidelines - Annex 5 - Collection of examples (PDF, 487KB) Example 25
