The intifada has imposed severe new burdens on Israel’s hardpressed police force. which must deal not only with the Palestinian uprising, but with a rising crime rate as well.
But, unlike the Israel Defense Force, the police need no new methods or rules of engagement to cope with these problems, Police Commissioner David Kraus told a news conference here Monday.
The police will not resort to plastic bullets or issue new operational orders, as is the case with the IDF in the administered territories, Kraus said.
The police are responsible for law and order in Israel proper, which includes East Jerusalem, annexed in 1967. The intifada has spilled over there, requiring a massive police presence to deal with disturbances.
Since the uprising began more than a year ago, there has been a three-fold increase in police work-days and a five-fold increase in work hours to deal with roadblocks alone, Kraus said.
But the force cannot be enlarged, because there has been a $5.5 million cut in the police budget.
Nevertheless, the police made more than 3,000 intifada-related arrests in 1988.
Kraus said there was an increase in terrorist-type attacks — gasoline bombs and explosive charges — within the green line, Israel’s pre-1967 borders.
At the same time, there was a 4 percent increase in crime overall and a 28 percent increase in serious crime in Israel last year.
The biggest rise was in the greater Tel Aviv area, where crime was up 22 percent. But crime decreased by 8 percent in Jerusalem, the biggest decline ever, Kraus said.
According to the police commissioner, 57.4 of every 1,000 Israelis have a criminal record. He said that theft accounts for 80 percent of all crimes.
Automobile theft and the theft of property from automobiles account for the largest percentage. The police are still looking for more than 6,000 stolen vehicles, Kraus said.
Drug offenses increased by 13 percent last year. Heroin was behind 43 percent of all drugrelated crimes. There was a massive increase in the amount of cocaine seized by the police.
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