Pickpocketing incidents in Malta increased by a third in 2015, though there was a decline in "serious" thefts, figures released today show. 

There were a total of 2,030 cases of pickpocketing reported last year, a quadruple increase since 2009. Pickpocketing in 2015 accounted to 12 per cent of all crimes.

Trends in reported crime in Malta in 2015 were divulged this afternoon, by criminologist Saviour Formosa who unveiled the main conclusions of his annual Crime Malta review. The findings were communicated in the presence of Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela and top police officers.

Last year there was a marginal increase of 490 in the overall number of reported crimes to reach 17,138. Prof. Formosa noted that in spite of this slight rise, the overall picture shows that crime was still on the decline, with the peak reached in 2013.

Areas shaded in green denote reports of thefts. Source: crimemalta.com

The report shows that the majority of cases (51 per cent) consisted of thefts, of which pickpocketing and common thefts were the only two categories which registered a rise.

Asked specifically on pickpocketing incidents, assistant police commissioner Neville Aquilina confirmed that the spike was correlated to a string of cases involving a gang from Easter European countries.

He noted that such reports started to decline as soon as the police arrested the culprits and charged them in court.

Damages to third party property was ranked as the second highest offence with 24 per cent of the total number of reported crimes.

A significant development was a seven per cent rise in domestic violence, reaching 1,205 reports. The rise marked a 10-fold increase over 2007, which coincided with new domestic violence legislation, thus suggesting more awareness.

Cases of bodily harm in 2015 dropped to 926, which represented a seven per cent drop.

On the other hand, computer-related crimes, such a cyber bullying, hacking and privacy breaches increased by 27 per cent.

Prof. Formosa said that such a trend was not surprising in view of the increasing reliance on electronic means of communication. He added that this form of crime would be expected to increase further in the coming years.

On a positive note, drug-related cases dropped by 21 per cent, whereas prostitution fell by almost half (41 per cent).

On the latter, the criminologist reiterated that the statistics were based on reported crimes, while pointing out that yearly fluctuations in certain types of offences were not uncommon.

A significant drop was also registered in thefts from residences, which fell by a quarter (24 per cent).

Increases were also registered in threats and public violence with a 28 per cent rise, sexual offences with 22 per cent, and violence against public officers with 1.2 per cent.

As expected the greatest number of offences were committed in St Julian’s, where the crime rate is five-times the national average. Silent city Mdina placed second, followed by Valletta, Floriana and Sliema. The Gozitan villages of Fontana, Qala and Sannat were bottom of the list.

A deeper analysis by region reveals that Għasri, St Julian’s, Msida, Swieqi and Sliema carry the highest risk of theft from residences. 

Once again the large car parks proved to be fertile ground for vehicle-related thefts especially in cases where these were poorly lit and left unguarded. This year Mdina took top spot, followed by Floriana, St Julian’s and Valletta.

Computer-related crimes increased by 27 per cent

As for commercial activity-related crimes, St Julian’s ranked first followed by St Paul’s Bay.

For the first time, the report also gave a geographical analysis of domestic violence reports with Birżebbuġa, St Paul’s Bay and Floriana topping the list.

Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela thanked Prof. Formosa for his report, saying it would help in police intelligence. He added that the government was committed to beef up police presence in the community, while noting that at present the number of district police of 1,050 was an all-time high.