evidence: The latest collection of data indicates a general tendency towards a decrease in the levels of recorded crime across European Union Member States between 2007 and 2010. The number of most types of crimes recorded by the police in the European Union has fallen. [...] The rate of homicides per 100 thousand inhabitants (Figure 3) reveals a downward trend: comparing the average ratios for 2005-2007 with those of 2008-2010, a decrease can be noted for all countries except Denmark, Greece and Malta. The ratio remained unchanged for the Netherlands. [...] Outside the EU, in Turkey, the average annual homicide rate almost halved between 2005-2007 and 2008-2010 (Table 3).