The crime rate in Jerusalem last year was extremely low, with most police problems being concerned with traffic violators, Jerusalem Chief of Police Levi Abrahami, today told newsmen.The largest theft during the year, he said, was that of 1,500 pounds worth of hides which were taken from a deserted store.
The most discouraging feature of the crime rate, he stated, was that one-third of all crimes were committed by juveniles. An encouraging feature, and one which contradicts a popular misconception, he pionted out, was that few of the criminals were recent immigrants from North Africa.
One of the major problems facing the police force, he asserted, was the general hostility to police evidenced by the local population. He said that the citizens of Jerusalem, conditioned by many years of foreign rule, still tend to look upon policemen as enemies not as friends attempting to protect them. To counter this feeling, Chief Abrahami revealed, the police force has undertaken a public education campaign among school children and adults.
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