Pickpocketing and drug possession peak during the early hours of the weekend, a strategy on crime prevention published for public consultation yesterday shows.

People are most likely to report being pickpocketed between 1am and 3am on weekends, the data shows. This spike is attributed to the loss of victims’ personal space in entertainment zones.

Increases in drug possession reports happen mainly late at night and during the early hours of the morning, with the highest frequency once again being in entertainment zones.

Fraud crimes tend to peak during the middle of the week and drop off on the weekend.

The data shows four localities, St Julian’s, Sliema, Valletta and St Paul’s Bay, make up 55.3 per cent of reported incidents. The crimes taken into consideration are pickpocketing, thefts from occupied residences, domestic violence, fraud and drug possession.

The strategy identifies hotspots such as St Julian’s (54.5 per cent) and Sliema (18.5 per cent) for pickpocketing, fraud in Birkirkara (15.8 per cent), drug possession in Paola (17.1 per cent) and St Paul’s Bay for domestic violence (8.5 per cent). Among other objectives, the strategy seeks to raise awareness about the way that pickpockets operate.

It says they often take ample time to study how to blend into a crowd while committing the theft. They are likely to operate on days and times when people carry more money than usual.

They often take ample time to study how to blend into a crowd while committing the theft

In addition to entertainment zones, pickpockets are likely to operate near banks, on public holidays and during the sale season, village festas, Christmas, shopping centres and other locations where people gather. They work either alone or in small groups of two or three. When working in groups, one of the pickpockets will first distract the victim, while the other carries out the crime, passing on the stolen items to a third accomplice.

Criminologist Janice Formosa Pace, who compiled the strategy, said police work had to be guided by academic studies of crime hotspots, as this would allow the police to focus on problem areas.

Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela said the crime prevention strategy would be open for consultation for a five-week period.

He said the strategy would be implemented over five years, starting in 2017.

The strategy identifies six key prevention areas:  school-based prevention, youth justice, policing for crime prevention, targeting of so-called crime families, a focus on the prevention of specific crimes and a situational crime-prevention model.

The strategy aims to encourage active involvement from citizens in crime prevention, for example encouraging patrols and neighbourhood watches.

Police officers must be assigned to a particular area, in which they are expected to work for a number of years, in order to form a bond with the community, the prevention strategy says.

Patrols in hotspots should be carried out by both uniformed and plain-clothes police officers to prevent crime, the strategy suggests.