Kosovo Centre for Security Studies today published the results of a special edition of the Kosovo Security Barometer on trends of perceptions of public safety in Kosovo 2012-215. During this period, an average of 40 percent of citizens feel safe in Kosovo, while 20 percent of them feel unsafe in Kosovo, the report says. In the past four years there has been a limited positive trend on general perceptions of public safety. However, the political crisis of the past years has stalled this positive trend. The report also notes that neighborhoods inhabited by Serb community and those along the border crossing with Serbia (inhabited by the Albanian community) appear to feel less safe than citizens of other regions of Kosovo. On the other hand, women have expressed a slightly higher degree of feeling safe in homes / apartments in comparison with men. But their sense of security is significantly lower at the community level.

On the other hand, only four percent of citizens said they feel safe because security institutions perform their job well.

Regarding police-citizen cooperation, the results of the past four years indicate an increased contact between citizens and police. Also, most people have expressed their willingness to report crimes to police. However, despite these results, there are also increasing concerns of citizens regarding disclosure of identity by the police in case reporting and the effectiveness of the police in combating crime and other negative phenomena.

Improving the education system and economic development were identified by more than 90 percent of respondents as the two primary measures, which would help improve public safety in Kosovo.