Concentration of burglaries in Sliema causing alarm

There has been only a “slight” increase in house burglaries reported in Sliema this summer when compared to this period last year, Sliema mayor Anthony Chircop told MaltaToday.

However, Chircop told this newspaper that a combination of media attention, the systematic approach adopted by the burglars, and the geographic concentration of the houses targeted, have brought to light an issue which is not quite new to the locality.

“Although I am not sure of the exact figures, the number of thefts is more or less what it was this time last year. Maybe slightly more,” Chircop said. “In the past, these burglaries might have been more sporadic whereas now they are more concentrated, and certainly more organised and systematic.”

The well-to-do locality has served as the unwitting location for a spate of burglaries carried out over the past couple of months, with the prime suspects believed to be an organised gang from Eastern Europe.

“The media coverage has also played its part, with many residents becoming aware of the burglaries through what they read on newspapers or over the internet,” he added. “People’s concerns are obviously going to rise.”

Last week, the local council held a meeting with officials from the police force and the CID, with security being one of the main topics discussed. This was followed by a meeting with the Minister for Home Affairs, Manuel Mallia, on Monday.

 “It was agreed that more police patrols are needed – both by officers in uniform, as well as others in plain clothes,” he said. “The crucial point which we agreed to was that the more police presence there is, the better equipped we would be to prevent such crimes.”

Chircop added that the local council was advising residents on certain precautions they could take, and urging them to be more proactive.

“We are recommending a list of ‘do’s and ‘do not’s,” Chircop said. “People need to be more proactive in the sense that they should inform the police on any suspicious behavior they may see. It is important, however, that people are precise with their reports.”

Asked about to what precautions the local council was recommending, Chircop explained that many of them did not require too much effort but they could go a long way to prevent break-ins.

“For instance, we are telling people to refrain from posting on Facebook anything to do with their whereabouts,” he said. “We are also urging persons who live in apartment blocks to only open the front door to people that they are certain they know and not to, say, persons requesting access on the pretext that they know the inhabitants of another apartment.”

During the meeting held with the home affairs minister and Acting Police Commissioner Ray Zammit, Sliema residents vented their frustration over the spate of thefts in recent weeks and complained about a lack of police presence in the streets.

Residents recounted their experiences and came up with various explanations of how the thieves are finding their way inside houses, with some residents saying that the thieves used a professional bump key while others insisted that the criminals were forcing their way in and using socks to avoid leaving any fingerprints. However, they agreed on one thing, the thieves were after gold and cash.

Among the suggestions put forward, residents called for more police officers on the beat and greater surveillance of the roads through CCTV.