Police were crediting community action as a key element on halting last year’s wave of rapes in Oslo. They cited organized civilian patrols, better lighting and heightened awareness that friends need to look out for each other when out on the town.
“We think the massive community action led to this (a sharp downturn in reported rapes since last autumn),” Hanne Kristin Rohde, head of vice crimes for the Oslo Police District, told newspaper Aftenposten over the weekend. “We think people are looking out for one another.”
An increase in police patrols also is believed to have helped stem the tide of rapes that washed over the capital last year. Police started seeing improvement already in early November, after massive media reports of the rise in rapes and robberies.
“We have more patrols out this year than last year,” said Bjørn Åge Hansen of the downtown Sentrum police station. Mayor Fabian Stang himself has continued to volunteer for civilian patrols with the group called Natteravnene, and politicians also have ordered new floodlights to be erected at several areas around town.
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