Report praises crime-busting and identifies economic offenses as new focus

The rate of solving crimes has increased for the first time since 1996, an official report on the state of security in Poland has concluded. Speaking after the report's publication, Interior Minister Marek Biernacki said that whereas last year the police focused on organized crime, in 2001 more attention is being paid to eliminating economic crime and corruption. In one of the report's most startling findings, traffic crimes have increased by 500% since changes were introduced to the highway code. However, this is mainly a consequence of drunk driving being categorized as a crime, and not as a misdemeanor. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A7) A.Z.