Matthew Xuereb
Crime reports drop again
80 per cent of accused jailed
Reported crime dropped by nearly 13 per cent last year compared to 2008, the fourth successive decline from one year to the next. The number of reported cases has now fallen by just over 35 per cent since 2005.
The police received 11,939 crime reports in 2009, a drop of 1,750 from the previous year, when 13,688 reports were filed.
The number of crime reports between 2000 and 2005 amounted to more than 105,000 but since then the figure has fallen constantly from year to year. The 18,461 crime reports filed in 2005 dropped to 16,542 in 2006 and again to 14,991 in 2007.
District 1, which comprises Valletta, Floriana and the port area, registered the largest drop, with 32 per cent or 364 fewer reports in 2009 compared to 2008.
It was followed by District 3, Paola, Luqa, Santa Luċija and Tarxien, at 26 per cent or 308 fewer reports.
Predictably, the district which includes St Julians, Paceville, Pembroke, Ibraġġ and San Ġwann received the largest number of reports - 2,015, although this was down from the 2,083 received in 2008.
The Gozo police district registered a 16 per cent drop, with the 2009 figure falling by nearly 100 reports.
A breakdown of the types of crime reported is not yet available as this information is still being compiled by the police.
Contacted by The Times, Justice Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici lauded the police corps for its hard work which yielded the positive results.
He said this was a reflection of the number of persons arraigned in court and the current prison population, which stands at one of the highest levels ever recorded.
He said he was certain the figure would go down again this year and promised that the government would continue to give the police the support it needed, noting the investment made recently in the purchase of new motorcycles, a digital photo lab and new DNA digital profiling equipment.
Speaking in Parliament last week, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said there was an incorrect perception that only a small number of cases were punished through imprisonment. On the other hand, statistics showed that 80 per cent of those accused before the criminal courts had been given prison sentences and the number of inmates at Corradino Correctional Facility had increased to 560.
Criminologist Saviour Formosa believes that while it is encouraging to see a situation that depicts declining crime rates, from a criminology point of view, the reasons for such changes, both positive and negative, must be queried.
Dr Formosa is a senior lecturer at the Institute of Criminology at the University of Malta and the director of CrimeMalta.
On the positive side, he said, the drop could reflect more effective police operational and tactical activities, more new and repeat offenders being incarcerated, higher rehabilitation outcomes, more efficient urban planning which reduced the opportunities for offences, and more alert people who served in neighbourhood schemes.
On the other hand, he said he was concerned about the crimes that went unreported, a figure that was on the rise across the Western affluent states.
Dr Formosa said the main "suspect" for Maltese crime-drops remained that of anomie, where citizens resort less and less to the authorities in terms of reporting crime.
Such statistics will be discussed on April 23 at the National Crime Conference organised by the Malta Criminology Association.
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William Galea
Mar 30th 2010, 10:54
I wish it was the same in Holland, as it was then in Malta during the 50's and the 60's when your dad was serving with our great Ploice Forces, over there in Holland as i live and work there their local Politie (coppers) will issue you bote' as they call it before one has a chance to open their mouth, its all about money in the Netherlands, especially for drivers on the motorways, there are unmarked police vehicles just about everywhere and anywhere if one can spot them equipped with vedio cameras speed checks and all the technology at their finger tip, one never knows who where they are, just plain clothes undercover police, mostly in jeans and ordinary sweters but very very firm and straight to the point, and they don't care if you happen to be Dutch or a foreigner they seem to target the Germans and the Belgians quite alot too,i don't know about us Maltese cause no many Maltese in the i right mind will live or work in Holland, its a completely different attitude over there when working for a Boss,they want their pound of flesh when it comes to money. God Bless Malta/Gozo.
Frank Caruana
Mar 29th 2010, 23:39
Well said Brad,i remember my old man was in the Police force many years ago, he served his 33 year service i believe and during that time he always used to say to us, i see people arguing, maybe sailors fighting,but never ever in his life in his own words, ever dished out a simons or a ticket, he just used his authoritiy as a Police officer to put the matter right, just like a school teacher or a priest without a fine, cause i remember he said these people are a working class people same a me, and i know how hard it was then at the time to bring a family up in Malta with such low wages, so why make it harder for them by paying out a fine, a good word of advice go a long way as oppose to money money money for the courts. Ofcourse things have changed since the 50's60's and i guess although i agree with Brad Spiteri we have one of the finest Police Forces in the country and a hard working guys too, its seems that now a days MONEY is the key word and as they say money talks.
Brad Spiteri UK
Mar 29th 2010, 19:49
A big well done to the Malta Police, our lads are not afraid of any hard work, unlike the British Police who are rather timid when it comes to keeping the peace, i know i see it so many time in London and all around most of Britian when there is a scrap in a football ground say,as its a daily occurance or on a Friday and Saturday night in the city when the pubs slings everyone out mostly drunken women with a mouth the size of London bus, very common people flaked out all over the pavements shouting abuse at the Police, anyway getting back to the point i noticed that when a fight breaks out, the blue bottles as they are called first let them fight it out and then when they tires out, they just move in and arrest them,, BUT NOT OUR Maltese* LADS,THEY ARE THE BRAVEST I HAVE EVER SEEN. GOOD ON YOU GUYS.
D. A . Agius
Mar 29th 2010, 13:25
Since the Administration of our Police Force tries so much to imitate the UK Police Forces and tries to show an image of an open Police Force, may the citizen be given decent information regarding Law and Order Performance rather than the piecemeals that we get fed through Parliamentary Questions...
A simple example is http://www.met.police.uk/crimefigures/index.php# from the Met Police, or http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/crimeew0809.html from the Home Office of the Uk.
Maybe the Police Force may actually change the half-baked website (in which I was heavily involved in creating way back in 2003 and which was so neglected ever before starting by the whole administration) from the current www.police.gov.mt to something like http://www.psni.police.uk/
And Maybe the Police Officers should be granted an independent Trade Union representation and starting helping out to sort the mess the Force is in. But that would be asking too much hux dear so Integru l-Commissioner? Otherwise we cannot hide behind losing files and denying all including the truth unless hard evidence is presented!
Godfrey Camilleri
Mar 29th 2010, 12:00
Well done to the police for their hard work. Yet at least one area I feel needs improvement: it was mentioned that motorbikes were added but still the presence of traffic police on the roads is inconspicuous. Shoddy vehicles with unreadable number plates, driving slow in the outer lane, lights not according to law, blaring music, the use of mobile phones while driving are a few of the traffic offenses that keep glaring out. Hence obviously more policemen are required to instill discipline on the roads.