By Aleksey Chernyshev: "Living With an Axe Under the Pillow", [Moscow, Soyuz in Russian, No. 10, Mar 91, p. 9]

It had been expected for the first time in many years the number of crimes broke the postwar record. It appears that it will not be long until detective films die out as a movie genre; our streets and courtyards will have become the scene of vicious robberies and cruel murders, and today's legendary "black cat" will, in comparison with the hit squads of brazen racketeers, seem like little friends of the militia.

In 1990 internal affairs and procuratorial organs investigated over four million complaints and crime reports. A total of 2,786,605 crimes were reported, or 13.2 percent more than the year before. Upon closer inspection this dry statistical data prompts, quite frankly, a mass of emotions, and definitely not of the most joyous kind. Until recently we preferred to illustrate all the horrors of crime with examples drawn from American life, modestly failing to mention our own accomplishments in this field. Well, the time has come to share our own achievements; according to official figures, a murder or attempted murder is committed in our country every 20 minutes, a serious bodily injury every 10 minutes, a rape every 23 minutes, and a burglary, robbery or violent robbery every 19 seconds...

An increase in crime has been observed in every union republic, particularly in Armenia (up 43.9 percent), Estonia (up 24.4 percent), Lithuania (up 18.6 percent), Latvia (up 16.9 percent) and Kirghizia (up 16.1 percent).

The social background of criminals arrested is also very interesting; 13.8 percent of them are women, and 16 percent are minors. As to be expected according to the immortal theory that working class is ahead here as well--the share of the total number of convicted criminals held by the leader is 52.3 percent, with kolkhoz members lagging far behind with 5.7 percent, as are persons with no specific employment at 71.2 percent of the total. Typically, the lion's share of those arrested (43.8 percent) committed their crimes at a fairly adult age, 30 years old or older.

Against the general backdrop of rising crime rates the greatest increase was observed in lawbreaking connected with means of transportation (by 27.7 percent), and in those areas there was also observed an epidemic increase in thefts of state and public property, the number of which increased by 70.5 percent as compared to 1989. With a little bit of imagination based on crime statistics one can even identify the average statistical Soviet criminal; most often a man, a blue-collar worker, over the age of 30, dealing in transportation-related crimes, poorly organized and moderately corrupt.