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Criminals inflict con siderable damage to the population...
The scale of damage inflicted by crime will not seem considerable when
compared to the general statistics. For example, crime inflicted material damage
in 1994 was a little over 766 billion rubles (about $350 billion) [6,
p.19]. This is almost equal to the damage inflicted by fires (450 billion
rubles), but it is 25 times less than the loss inflicted on Russian people by
various banks and fraudulent joint-stock companies with official licenses.
According to incomplete information, this damage amounts to 20 trillion rubles [5].
The number of murders from 1992 to 1994 was 30% less than the number victims
of traffic accidents.
Murder stands low on the list of reasons for death; the number of deaths by
murder is much lower, for example, than the number of deaths from alcohol
poisoning.
Here are some statistics about St.Petersburg. In 1993 the number of deaths
per 100,000 was [16]: from vascular diseases —
987; from accidents, poisoning and injuries — 255.1; from alcohol
poisoning — 48.8; from murder — 23.9; from tuberculosis —
15.7...
According to official data, 38,000 civilians have died in Chechnya, according
to independent experts, the figure is more like 50,000 — 100,000 (in
1994, there were 32,200 murders in the whole country), over 3 million people are
suffering from TB (2% of the population) and more than 30% of the population are
living on less than the official minimum wage...
It is not quite understandable why crime, not having the highest rate of
victims, turned out to top of the list of society’s current problems. But the
opinions of Russian people themselves are cited as an irrefutable argument,
strengthening the extreme importance of the crime problem.
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