Editing Cluj-Napoca (section)

=== Crime ===

{{See also|Crime in Romania}}
[[File:Biserica Mihail.JPG|thumb|250px|Part of the old city centre, as viewed from Cetățuia]]

Cluj-Napoca and the surrounding area ([[Cluj County]]) had a rate of 268 criminal convictions per 100,000 inhabitants during 2006, just above the national average.<ref name="INSSE">{{Cite web |title=JUS107A – Rata criminalității (persoane condamnate definitiv la 100000 locuitori), pe regiuni de dezvoltare și județe |url=https://statistici.insse.ro/shop/index.jsp?page=tempo3&lang=ro&ind=JUS107A |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070623153727/https://statistici.insse.ro/shop/index.jsp?page=tempo3&lang=ro&ind=JUS107A |archive-date=2007-06-23 |access-date=2008-05-09 |publisher=INSSE}}</ref> After the [[Romanian Revolution of 1989|revolution in 1989]], the criminal conviction rate in the county entered a phase of sustained growth, reaching a historic high of 429 in 1998, when it began to fall.<ref name="INSSE"/> Although the overall crime rate is reassuringly low, petty crime can be an irritant for foreigners, as in other large cities of Romania.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Country Profile Romania 2006 |url=http://store.eiu.com/product/30000203KM-sample.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090111003156/http://store.eiu.com/product/30000203KM-sample.html |archive-date=11 January 2009 |access-date=2008-05-09 |publisher=[[Economist Intelligence Unit]]}}</ref> During the 1990s, two large financial institutions, Banca Dacia Felix and [[Caritas (Ponzi scheme)|Caritas]], went bankrupt due to large-scale fraud and embezzlement.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dăianu |first=Daniel |title=Strain and Economic Adjustment. Romania' Travails and Pains |url=http://pdc.ceu.hu/archive/00002193/01/strain_and_economic_adjustment.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080529105317/http://pdc.ceu.hu/archive/00002193/01/strain_and_economic_adjustment.pdf |archive-date=2008-05-29 |access-date=2008-05-09 |publisher=Romanian Center for Economic Policies}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Perlez |first=Jane |date=13 November 1993 |title=Pyramid Scheme a Trap for Many Romanians |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/13/business/pyramid-scheme-a-trap-for-many-romanians.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614122107/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/13/business/pyramid-scheme-a-trap-for-many-romanians.html |archive-date=14 June 2018 |access-date=2008-05-09 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

Also notorious was the case of serial killer [[Romulus Vereș]], "the man with the hammer"; during the 1970s, he was charged with five murders and several [[attempted murder]]s, but never imprisoned on [[Insanity defense|grounds of insanity]]: he had [[schizophrenia]], blaming the [[Devil]] for his actions. Instead, he was institutionalised in the Ștei psychiatric facility in 1976, following a three-year [[forensic]] investigation during which four thousand people were questioned. [[Urban myth]]s brought the number of victims up to two hundred women, though the actual number was much smaller. This confusion is probably explained by the lack of attention this case received, despite its magnitude, in the Communist press of the time.<ref>{{Cite web |date=17 February 2008 |title=Citește povestea celui mai temut criminal al Clujului: "Omul cu ciocanul" |url=http://www.clujeanul.ro/cluj/citeste-povestea-celui-mai-temut-criminal-al-clujului-omul-cu-ciocanul-2394295 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080301111548/http://www.clujeanul.ro/cluj/citeste-povestea-celui-mai-temut-criminal-al-clujului-omul-cu-ciocanul-2394295 |archive-date=1 March 2008 |access-date=2008-03-12 |publisher=Clujeanul |language=ro}}</ref>

A 2006 poll shows a high degree of satisfaction with the work of the local police department. More than half the people surveyed during a 2005–2006 poll declared themselves satisfied (62.3%) or very satisfied (3.3%) with the activity of the county police department.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Poll organised by the Cluj Police Department |url=http://cj.politiaromana.ro/vot/poll.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015120522/http://cj.politiaromana.ro/vot/poll.php |archive-date=15 October 2007 |access-date=2008-03-12 |publisher=Cluj Police Department |language=ro}}</ref> The study found the highest satisfaction with car traffic supervision, the presence of officers in the street, and road education; on the negative side, corruption and public transport safety remain concerns.

Efforts made by local authorities in the Cluj-Napoca district at the end of the 1990s to reform the protection of [[children's rights]] and assistance for [[street children]] proved insufficient due to lack of funding, incoherent policies and the absence of any real collaboration between the actors involved (Child Rights Protection Directorate, Social Assistance Service within the District Directorate for Labour and Social Protection, Minors Receiving Centre, Guardian Authority within the City Hall, Police). In 2007, it was reported that there were still high numbers of street children, whose poverty and lack of documented identity brought them into constant conflict with local law enforcement.<ref name="ASIS">{{Cite web |title=Street Children and Juvenile Justice in Romania |url=http://www.streetchildren.org.uk/reports/Romania%20JJ%20report%20-%20FINAL%204.04.doc |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080627181914/http://www.streetchildren.org.uk/reports/Romania%20JJ%20report%20-%20FINAL%204.04.doc |archive-date=27 June 2008 |access-date=2008-03-12 |publisher="Asociația pentru Sprijinirea Integrării Sociale" (ASIS) in partnership with "The Consortium for Street Children" |format=DOC}}</ref>

Following cooperation between the local governmental council and the [[Prison Fellowship]] Romania Foundation, [[homeless]] people, street children and [[beggar]]s are taken, identified and accommodated within the Christian Centres for Street Children and Homeless People, respectively, and the Ruhama centre.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Acte necesare – Persoane fără adăpost |url=http://www.primariaclujnapoca.ro/acte-necesare/acte69.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080317231110/http://www.primariaclujnapoca.ro/acte-necesare/acte69.aspx |archive-date=17 March 2008 |access-date=2008-03-12 |publisher=Primăria Municipiului Cluj-Napoca |language=ro}}</ref> The latter features a marshaling centre for beggars and street children, as well as a [[flophouse]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Acte necesare – Azilul de noapte |url=http://www.primariaclujnapoca.ro/acte-necesare/acte70.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013081853/http://primariaclujnapoca.ro/acte-necesare/acte70.aspx |archive-date=13 October 2007 |access-date=2008-03-12 |publisher=Cluj-Napoca City Hall |language=ro}}</ref> As a consequence, the fluctuating movement of children, beggars and homeless people in and out of the centre has been considerably reduced, with most of the initial beneficiaries successfully integrated into the programme rather than returning to the streets.<ref name="ASIS"/>

From 2000 onwards, Cluj-Napoca has seen an increase in illegal [[streetracing|road races]], which occur mainly at night on the city's outskirts or on industrial sites and occasionally produce victims. There have been attempts to organise legal races as a solution to this problem.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Călina Berceanu |date=7 April 2005 |title=Cursele de mașini pe timp de noapte intră în legalitate |url=http://www.adevarul.ro/articole/cursele-de-masini-pe-timp-de-noapte-intra-in-legalitate/123606 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080302091609/http://www.adevarul.ro/articole/cursele-de-masini-pe-timp-de-noapte-intra-in-legalitate/123606 |archive-date=2 March 2008 |access-date=2008-03-14 |work=Adevărul |language=ro}}</ref>