At least one police officer per week undergoes some kind of violence in St Julian’s, recent crime figures show.

Violence against public officers has more than doubled since 2009, from 20 to 49 incidents last year, according to criminologist Saviour Formosa.

Paceville was the focus of attention in the past week after an 18-year-old man was grievously injured following an attack in Paceville which left him with his throat slit.

His father called for stricter police enforcement and claimed foreigners were walking around armed with pocket knives and itching for a fight.

But while violence against public officers has been steadily growing in the past five years, crimes involving bodily harm have gone down from a peak of 266 in 2011 to 184 in 2013.

“Like homicide, violence does not happen every day. If it did, Paceville would have to shut down. The horror of violent stories is a result of the shock of the individual crime as it happens, otherwise it would be treated as a normal occurrence. With violence, there is no pattern except for the location,” Dr Formosa told The Sunday Times of Malta.

It’s not enough that individuals fighting inside a club are chucked out on to the street

He explained the increase in violence against police officers could be the result of more police on the ground, which leads to more direct conflict as offenders do not accept supervision.

He said the way Paceville has developed and the industry it hosts attracts these kinds of crimes, but they could happen anywhere.

“Closing Paceville will not solve these problems, but merely displace them.”

Bodily harm accounts for nine per cent of all offences registered in the area over the past five years. There is an average of 30 incidences a year involving grievous bodily harm by physical force, with one incident followed by death in 2012.

Slight bodily harm by physical force is back to 2009 figures when 120 cases were registered, down from a peak of 197 in 2011.

“Most of the crimes occur between 3am and 6am when most people would have left and those remaining tend to have higher levels of alcohol, which means tolerance thresholds are lowered while the tendency for violence increases,” Dr Formosa said.

He stressed the police cannot work alone but must work hand-in-hand with the industry, which should increase its cooperation with the force.

“It’s not enough that individuals fighting inside a club are chucked out on to the street.

“The streets are not only the responsibility of the police, they belong to everyone: society, the industry and the State.”

The majority of crime in the area is actually theft, which accounts for 77 per cent of crime over the same period. While such crimes almost doubled since 2009, there was an improvement last year when figures fell to 2,199 from 2,420 offences registered in 2012 – the first time in years.

Damages account for the third largest number of crimes, totalling eight per cent of total offences in the area. Figures rose from 117 cases in 2009 to 325 last year.

Tuesday’s edition of Times Talk will discuss the situation in Paceville.