5/05/2016
Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS), today, on 5th of May, has launched the preliminary finding of Special Edition of Kosovo Security Barometer (KSB) – Trends of citizens’ perceptions on Public Safety in Kosovo. At the conference, besides the author of the report, invited as panelists to discuss findings were: Advisor to the General Director of Kosovo Police, Mr. Shefqet Beqaj, Spokesman of Kosovo Police Mr. Baki Kelani and Mr. Ismail Smakiqi, Director of the Kosovo Academy for Public Safety in Vushtrri.
Sofije Kryeziu, author of the report, presented to the audience the key findings of this special edition of the KSB with special focus on perceptions of public safety in Kosovo. Furthermore, she presented qualitative data collected during the period of four years, from 2012 to 2015, presenting trends and patterns in regarding to public safety.
Some of the key findings of the report:
- Public perceptions regarding public safety in Kosovo with a focus on specific parts of the country;
- Risks and major threats to the community in Kosovo;
- Public perceptions towards the security institutions in Kosovo;
- Public perceptions on measures to be taken in order to improve public safety in Kosovo;
According to the results collected in the field during the past four years it appears that on average, 40 percent of citizens feel safe in Kosovo, 40 percent do not have an opinion to share, do not feel safe or unsafe, while 20 percent of citizens feel unsafe in Kosovo. While, neighborhoods inhabited by Serbian community and along the border with Serbia (inhabited by the Albanian community) appear to feel less secure than citizens of other regions of Kosovo. On the other hand, women have expressed a slightly higher degree of feeling safe in homes / apartments in comparison with men. However, their sense of security is significantly reduced in community level.
Among the main reasons that have contributed to feel safe among citizens do not related to the protection they enjoy from security state institutions. Moreover, 52 percent of citizens feel safe for the fact that they live in a good neighborhood and 35 percent with the fact that they live a normal life and respect for law. On the other hand, only 4 percent of respondents stated that they feel safe because security state institutions perform their job well.
Three main challenges of public safety according to citizen perceptions are: traffic accidents, robberies and stray animals. During the past four years, on average 17,700 traffic accidents per year, around 10,000 people were injured and more than 120 persons have died every year. Similarly, 7,000 robberies were reported to the police in the past two years. While only a low percentage of citizens consider domestic violence as a community problem in Kosovo while it is noticed hesitations among the respondents to answer on this matter. Improving the education system and economic development are identified by more than 90 percent of respondents as the two primary measures that will help improve public safety in Kosovo.
