This reduction has been influenced by preventative measures and increasing protection by citizens of their property. Crimes against property are still very negatively perceived by the public, with a sizeable impact on the evaluation of police work. Despite a slight fall in the number of juvenile offenders , crime by this group has risen steadily over the long-term. In the crime structure, crimes against property continue to dominate, with a high incidence, and are committed mostly in groups and often involve burglary. This is followed by violent crimes, often involving considerable brutality.
Drug crimes are also on the increase.
Racially motivated crimes are often committed by juveniles or persons close to that age group. In evaluating juvenile crime, it is necessary to take account of the fact that the data only comes from the proportion of crimes cleared up. Juvenile crime is mainly influenced by dysfunctional families, truancy and the use of alcohol - a range of negative factors usually has a cumulative effect. Trends for the number of traffic accidents are a serious problem throughout society, as are their consequences for life and health. In 1998, legislative work on a new Official Secrets Act was completed and in the second half of the year the National Security Office was established as the central body for this area.