Under control — law enforcement and fire safety

Last year, a consistent and targeted effort was made in the district to strengthen legality and law and order, protect the rights of citizens, society, and the state from criminal encroachments. The measures taken by the prosecutor's supervision and the active position of law enforcement agencies allowed for an improvement in preventive activities and stabilization of the operational situation.

In 2016, there were 166 crimes in the district, which is 3.5% less than in 2015. The crime rate per 10,000 population was 63 crimes and is one of the lowest in Vitebsk region. There were no murders or attempted murders, rapes, extortions, or robberies, and the number of serious and especially serious crimes decreased from 26 to 16.

At the same time, the number of crimes committed in the line of criminal investigation, although slightly, has increased. The detection rate of crimes in this category decreased from 65% to 63.5%. The increase in crimes in the line of criminal investigation occurred due to committed thefts. Most of them were still committed through free access to the victims' property, indicating insufficient preventive work regarding this type of crime among residents and guests of the district.

Inspections conducted by the district prosecutor's office indicate that, alongside social factors related to the alcoholism of part of the population and family dysfunction, deficiencies in the work of the GPAP councils, internal affairs agencies, and other preventive entities contribute to the commission of crimes.

Thus, the activities of certain GPAP councils (Vidzauski, Myazhyansky rural councils) do not have a preventive and systematic nature, and no measures are taken against individuals who abuse alcohol and lead an antisocial lifestyle. Individuals prone to unlawful behavior are not always identified in a timely manner.

Compared to the previous year, the situation regarding compliance with fire safety requirements in the district significantly improved in 2016. There were 10 fires in 2016 (compared to 22 in 2015). Four people died in fires (five in 2015). The damage from fires amounted to 63,812 Belarusian rubles.

However, during visits by prosecutor's office employees, together with inspectors from the Braslav RANS, numerous violations of fire safety legislation were identified at agricultural enterprises during the harvesting campaign (OAO "Braslavsky Rayagroservis", OAO "Slabodka-Agra", "Alshanka", KUSP "Braslavsky", and others).

Here are some typical violations of the requirements of technical regulatory legal acts of the fire safety regulation and standardization system found in all agricultural organizations in the district: buildings are not equipped with lightning protection elements; existing fire reservoirs are not cleared of vegetation, not marked; in farm buildings, electrical fixtures are not fully equipped with protective covers; buildings, structures, and farm equipment are not provided with primary fire extinguishing means in full.

Yuri Kezik,
District Prosecutor