Statistics
The percentage of criminal offenses out of the total number of criminal activities = 5,837,445 instances (in 2023: 5,940,667 instances).
In 2024, a total of 5,837,445 criminal offenses were registered nationwide. This represents a slight decrease of 1.7 percent compared to the previous year (2023: 5,940,667 cases). However, when compared to the last year without COVID-19 restrictions (2019: 5,436,401 cases), the number of cases in 2024 was 7.4 percent higher.
Latvia | 2024
The figures are only partially comparable, as the partial legalization of cannabis possession and cultivation on April 1, 2024, impacted the number of cases and specifically led to a decrease in drug-related offenses.
Concepts and definitions
Human security
The foundations of the concept of "human security" were established in the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) 1994 Human Development Report, where this term was introduced for the first time. In the report, human security was defined as freedom from fear and freedom from want. This approach became the basis for further research, promoting an in-depth analysis and development of the security field.
The UN's 1994 Human Development Report emphasized that traditional understandings of security had long been associated with interstate conflicts and threats to national borders. However, in contemporary times, the sense of insecurity is more influenced by the conditions of daily life. Key issues of human security include job and income security, health protection, and protection from environmental disasters and crime.
An individual's perception of security is subjective and can vary, yet there are common fundamental criteria that determine a sense of security in modern society, such as a safe social environment, protection from external threats, stable employment, secure housing, and child safety. Everyday life is not always predictable, as it is influenced by external threats, health status, psychological factors, the public environment, and interpersonal relationships, all of which can create ongoing psychological tension.
Thus, a person is in a continuous process of environmental and situational change, which presents psychological and physical challenges and requires both operational and strategic solutions. The sense of security can vary for each individual, as it also relies on the person's emotional state of awareness.
Personal freedom of an individual
Definition
An individual's personal security encompasses a broad array of essential protective processes and mechanisms, ranging from the prevention of fundamental societal security threats to addressing individual human needs, specifically measures ensuring the inviolability of life, privacy, physical, and psychological well-being.
Personal protection
Definition
At the core of personal security, individuals primarily value their fundamental physical and material security, yet an equally important aspect is the psychological sense of security. This sense ensures psychological equilibrium, fundamental physical and psychological development, daily peace, and well-being. Such a process can be likened to a "lantern's light in the darkness of night."
In the early 1990s, broad discussions began in political and academic circles regarding the term "security" and its expansion and transformation.