PETALING JAYA, Feb 13 — The overall crime index dropped by 11.1 per cent last year according to the latest National Key Result Areas (NKRA) report, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said today.

The crime index is defined as crimes that are reported with sufficient regularity and with sufficient significance to be meaningful as an index to the crime situation.

There are seven types of crimes in this category and they include housebreaking and theft by day, housebreaking and theft by night, theft of lorries and van, theft of cars, theft of motorcycles and scooters, theft of bicycles and other forms of theft.

Hishammuddin (picture) also said that street crime decreased significantly last year, a 39.7 per cent drop compared to 35 per cent in 2010.

He said the reduction was a marked improvement from the 15 per cent reduction in street crime set under the NKRA in 2010.

“The year 2011 saw the satisfaction index of the public with regard to frontline services of the police soar to 70.5 per cent which is way above the 60 per cent target set,” he said in his speech at the International Conference on Principled Policing here.

He said the NKRA report was presented to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak last week.

Hishammuddin added that his ministry had surpassed its 20 per cent target in improving the criminal justice process by achieving a 23.5 per cent rate in the number of arrests brought to trial.

“In terms of the public’s fear of becoming a victim of crime, we acknowledge that there is still work to be done, as the recent independent survey indicates that some 52.9 per cent of those surveyed are still fearful,” he said.

He also said that according to a recent World Justice Report, Malaysia was ranked first among 19 upper middle-income countries and 12th safest in the world.