Sliema council to meet police over growing theft problem

Every week seems to bring along with it a new robbery from a residence in Sliema.

A MaltaToday vox pop earlier this week only reinforced the significant level of concern among Sliema residents over a perception of rising theft and property crime.

Recent statistics show, perhaps unsurprisingly, that St Julian’s is Malta’s crime capital, with neighbouring Sliema coming in second place. Between 2009 and 2013, 47 thefts from vacant Sliema residences were reported, more than from any other locality in Malta. In the same time period, Sliema reported 217 burglaries from occupied residences and 613 pickpocketing incidents.

No crime statistics for 2014 have been released as yet, but Sliema councillor Marianne Aquilina (PL) says that the number of theft-related complaints sent to the Sliema local council was indeed “rising”.

“Many Sliema residents, particularly the elderly, are now scared of leaving their homes, even if just to go to church,” she said.

But another Sliema councillor Michael Briguglio (AD) saw room for a sense of perspective.  “In some European cities, walking through the streets at night is dangerous. And in comparison, Sliema remains very safe.” 

Police have said that a professional gang of about five ‘East European’ – Bulgarian and Romanian – men have targeted Sliema apartments. Without pointing a finger at a particular nationality, Aquilina said that many Sliema robberies she’s heard about involved ‘foreign’ thieves.

Police have said that the gang makes use of a ‘bump key’, a modified key that is able to pick target locks. The bump key allegedly used by this gang fits the keyholes of individual apartment units. 

Briguglio also pointed out that “areas with a high concentration of foreign students tend to report a higher crime rate”.

The Sliema Local Council has pressured the police to improve their presence in the district. “While police frequently patrol Sliema’s promenade, they do not pay enough attention to the residential areas,” Briguglio told MaltaToday.

On their part, the police told this newspaper that they had informed Sliema’s mayor Anthony Chircop that they have increased patrols through the town, by both uniformed and plain-clothed policemen. They have also informed the council that some arrests have been made.   

The local council will meet up with the Superintendent in charge of the Sliema district and other high-ranking police officials next week.

Mayor Anthony Chircop told MaltaToday he hopes that they will provide the council with further details on the police measures that are in place to combat crime, which they will then be able to pass on to Sliema’s residents.