POLICE STATISTICS FOR THE YEAR 1977 REGISTERED 543,642 OFFENSES, AN INCREASE OF 4.7 PERCENT OVER 1976 (OR CONSIDERING POPULATION GROWTH, 3.3 PERCENT). THIS WAS THE SMALLEST INCREASE SINCE 1965. THE INCREASE IN OFFENSES OVER 1976 VARIED WIDELY FOR SEPARATE CRIMES, WITH THE GREATEST NUMBER (87.7 PERCENT) IN THE CRIMINAL OFFENSES CATEGORY. WITHIN THE LATTER CATEGORY, CHANGES IN OFFENSE RATES VARIED FROM A 35.3 PERCENT INCREASE FOR VANDALISM TO A 24.9 PERCENT DECREASE FOR PICKPOCKETING. RATES FOR ALL CATEGORIES OF SIMPLE AND ARMED THEFT DROPPED. THE OVERALL INCREASE IN CRIMINAL OFFENSES SINCE 1973 WAS 41 PERCENT; THE RATES OF SEXUAL OFFENSES AND ARMED THEFT WERE BELOW THE 1973 LEVEL. THE 1977 INCREASE OF TRAFFIC OFFENSES OVER 1976 WAS 12.6 PERCENT, A SLOWER RATE OF INCREASE THAN IN THE PREVIOUS YEAR (14 PERCENT). IN 1977, POLICE SOLVED 172,120 CRIMES (31.7 PERCENT), LESS THAN IN 1976; THE LEAST CRIMES WERE SOLVED IN AMSTERDAM (17 PERCENT). THE HIGHEST SOLUTION RATE WAS 85.9 PERCENT FOR CRIMES AGAINST INDIVIDUALS' LIFE AND LIMB. AMONG THE 173,854 SUSPECTS APPREHENDED IN 1977 (7.1 PERCENT MORE THAN IN 1976), JUVENILES WERE 7.4 PERCENT MORE COMMON THAN IN THE PREVIOUS YEAR. THE ROYAL MARECHAUSSEE (MILITARY POLICE) REPORTED 7,012 OFFENSES, COMPARED TO 6,076 IN 1976. IN 1977, 3,080,500 POLICE REPORTS OF NONINDICTABLE CRIMES OR FINES PAID TO AVOID FURTHER PROSECUTION WERE REGISTERED; THE FIGURE FOR THE ROYAL MARECHAUSSEE WAS 34,426 REPORTS AND 2,870 FINES (COMPARED TO 26,234 AND 3,040 IN 1976). IN OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, AND DECEMBER 1977, 1,768, 1,699, AND 1,516 INDIVIDUALS WERE TAKEN INTO CUSTODY. POLICE STRENGTH WAS 125 OFFICERS PER 100,000 INHABITANTS (122 IN 1976) FOR THE NATIONAL POLICE AND 205 (195) FOR MUNICIPAL POLICE. EXTENSIVE TABLES DOCUMENT OFFENSES AND NONINDICTABLE OFFENSES REPORTED TO THE POLICE AND THE ROYAL MARECHAUSSEE IN 1977 AND JANUARY 1978 ACORDING TO PROVINCE, MUNICIPALITY, AND CRIME TYPE; POLICE STRENGTH BY PROVINCE AND MUNICIPALITY AND FIRES IN JANUARY 1978 BY PROVINCE, MUNICIPALITY, AND KIND OF FIRE. GRAPHS TRACE THE MONTHLY COURSE OF OFFENSES FOR 1977, THE COURSE OF CRIMINAL OFFENSES IN 1977, THE COURSE OF REPORTS FOR NONINDICTABLE CRIMES, AND THE COURSE OF BANKRUPTCIES FROM 1974 TO MARCH 1978. --IN DUTCH.