According to official police statistics reported by TASR newswire, the police dealt with 74 murder investigations over the first nine months of 2011, which is 6 more than the same period last year. They have resolved just 50 of them so far.
Chief spokesman for the police, Michal Slivka, told the newswire that most murders in Slovakia are not premeditated and are mostly the result of heated arguments, often inflamed by the use of alcohol or drugs. These usually revolve around money or other valuables, or the breakdown or relationships.
There were 1,768 cases reported of GBH (grievous bodily harm), which is 7% down on the first nine months of last year. An interesting but worrying statistic is that the number of racially motivated or extremist attacks has increased by 245% over the same period last year, with 215 cases being dealt with.