Individuals and Groups

"First of all, you should know that we in the police have divided murders into categories: we have pathological killings, murders in accidental encounters, impulsive killings, death due to negligence, death for profit.

The number of young killers in the categories covers fighting among criminals and other crime related killings. There is also a rising number of young killers in the category of murders in accidental encounters which was unusual earlier since most of those murders were committed by middle aged men who had been drinking, both the killers and the victims. Guns are now much more readily available to young people and they often clash without planning it, in chance encounters. That does not mean the killer and victim did not know each other, most often this a settling of accounts. A characteristic of this kind of murder are the deaths and wounding of innocent people, passersby or people in cafes."

VREME: Once murders were committed with knives or axes, and now?

GAGIC: "Firearms are used more often, mainly illegal guns. There are very few killings with registered weapons, that is a characteristic of killings in suburbs with hunting rifles. Recently we noticed that bad quality guns are being used but with good characteristics. Expensive and attractive pistols aren't being used, they're show pieces and most often registered, but unregistered, cheap but efficient guns are. On the other hand, we have a growing number of murders involving automatic weapons which are growing more popular because of their rate of fire and the certainty of the killing."

So this is organized crime?

The term organized crime was never precisely defined and everyone interprets it as it suits them. The Belgrade underworld is not organized at a level that would allow us to talk of organized crime but there are certain links among criminals that indicate the possibility. Regardless of their financial power, there is no individual who wants to become the Boss and that's because of fear of being too exposed. This is a specific city that does not tolerate authority. Belgrade is dynamic, migrations are large, many leave and many come in. I wouldn't be surprised if a 20 year old from some other town came in and shot one of the bosses to win fame and money in the underworld. Also, there are a number of individuals in the city who don't tolerate authority unless they can profit from it. New people come in every day, younger and more ruthless. You could say there is organized crime in some smaller towns where dangerous criminals are in charge and no one opposes them, rather than say there is organized crime in Belgrade.

Are there any paid killers"

We haven't proved a single paid killing so far. Some of the unsolved murders could including a killing of that kind.

From a police perspective, what should be done to lower the homicide rate or at least stop its growth?

For a start, the existing laws should be implemented consistently. When the new gun and ammunition control law took effect four years ago under which illegal arms possession drew a penalty of six months to three years in jail, we almost couldn't find a single gun in the city for months. Then a series of suspended sentences were passed for illegal arms possession, even for people who were not first time offenders. That law is not being implemented consistently. A lot of factors affect the scope and dynamics of crime, and we can expect no sudden rise in the number of homicides. The police will be ready for a possible rise.

Table 1

Number of murders in Belgrade over the past 10 years

Year Known perpetrator NN perpetrator Total

1986 15 4 19

1987 17 8 25

1988 20 3 23

1989 11 20 31

1990 18 9 27

1991 29 29 68

1992 37 50 87

1993 30 45 75

1994 35 37 72

1995 37 47 84

Note: Murders with NN (unidentified) perpetrators are the ones where the police do not immediately identify the killer. They are investigated by the homicide and sex crime department with the help of the crime prevention department and often with the help of the entire Belgrade and Serbian police.