Cottonera, Floriana, Għaxaq and Pembroke have two to five times the national rate of domestic violence reports, new data has revealed. 

Figures from the annual crime report for 2018 show that these localities experienced a spike in reported domestic violence, which became the second most reported crime in the country after material damages. It is followed by theft. 

The reports relate to stalking, bodily harm and psychological harm, criminologist Saviour Formosa said.

Reports on domestic violence shot up to over 1,341 cases (eight per cent) in 2018. There was a 10 per cent increase in reports of psychological harm, the data shows.

Saviour Formosa

Crime as a whole went down by seven per cent last year, reaching a total of 15,925 reported offences.

An increase in population, coupled with an influx of tourists, meant crime was now more diversified, Prof. Formosa said. 

Cases of fraud increased by 30 per cent over the previous year, as new forms of digital crime emerged, he added. Fraud reports shot up to 1,032 in 2018, from 787 in 2017, he said. 

The main increase was registered as fraudulent gains, making fraud the fourth most reported crime in the country.

Last year, Prof. Formosa had warned a high perception of widespread corruption and bribery led to the rise in reports relating to fraud. This time, Prof. Formosa noted that the perception had not changed but that new forms of digital crime were emerging.

Money-laundering cases, recorded for the first time in 2017, registered a 94 per cent increase in just one year. Thirty-three cases were reported in 2018, compared to 17 cases in 2017.

The Maltese offence profile changed from a public-oriented to a personal one, with an “increasing focus on financial-related offences,” Prof. Formosa said.

This, he warned, required a shift in policing, personal safety and preparedness in technological advances.

There was the need to initiate thinking about crimes that “have yet to be conceived by offenders as the next societal change will occur, mainly in the digital arena,” he said.

Crime was moving into a virtual space – and the elderly were the most vulnerable, he warned. 

Home Affairs Minister Michael Farrugia said the police force would be strengthening its economic crime unit following the rise in financial crime reports.

Other statistics from the annual crime report

■ Victims were mainly Maltese men aged between 40-59.

■ Mdina pushed St Julian’s to third to become the city with the most reported crimes. Floriana was a close second.

■ Crime in St Julian’s dropped from 10.6 per cent in 2017 to 9.4 in 2018 – the lowest in 18 years.

■ Pickpocketing went down by 995 offences in 2018 – a decrease of 46 per cent from the previous year.

■ Theft from beaches decreased by 46 per cent – the lowest in 14 years.

■ Drug reporting increased by 12 per cent in 2018 – the highest ever since 2004.

■ Sexual offences increased by 18 per cent.