Electronic tagging ‘could save lives’ of dementia sufferers

Criminologist Saviour Formosa has suggested that persons suffering from acute dementia be electronically tagged and monitored to prevent them from getting lost without having to draw on major policing resources.

“The economies of scale to tag people who have committed certain crimes show that the system would be too expensive,” Formosa told the press yesterday. “So we thought different ways in which tagging could be used.”

Formosa said that Malta’s ageing society will see a growth of people aged 60-70 forming 25% of the population. “10,000 will suffer from acute dementia, and these people will get lost, and die… so let’s help them by offering a monitoring service.”

Dementia is usually associated with a decline in memory or other thinking skills severe enough to reduce a person’s ability to perform everyday activities. Alzheimer’s disease accounts for 60% to 80% of cases.

“With this method we would be there for these sufferers years before something happens. Criminality is not only something between an offender and a victim – there could be victims where there are no offenders. So let’s be there to mitigate it.”

St Julian’s has retained the dubious crown of Malta’s most crime-ridden town, playing host to over five times the national rate of offences, according to CrimeMalta’s annual crime report for 2014.

The report, compiled by Dr Saviour Formosa, lists a declining number of thefts, fraud and violence against public officers in the past year. Forgery, computer misuse, drugs and sexual offences have also declined, whilst pornography, bodily harm and prostitution have experienced “slight increases”.

However, reports of domestic violence have increased tenfold between 2007 and 2014, while threats and public violence have “practically tripled” since 2008.

Speaking at an event marking the publication of the report, Commissioner of Police Michael Cassar praised the “giant steps” in information collection, helped by the Department of Criminology at the University of Malta. Cassar said that gone were the days of the policeman only using pen and paper, explaining that the role of police has become much more intelligence-based.

Intelligence-gathering procedures are being updated and part of the process involves interaction with victims, suspects and witnesses, said the Commissioner. “We will not remain passive.”

Report author Formosa stressed that it was not enough to look at the numbers, one had to find the reasons behind them through analysis.

“Knowledge should not remain in academia but be ported to real life.  People will be practically living online within three years. The police must also be online,” said Formosa, predicting the use of so-called “big data” gathered from mobile phones as part of the data set.  

Another possibility was the tagging and tracking of elderly dementia patients. This would free up resources for other duties. “At the moment, if a dementia sufferer goes missing, the whole district will be looking for them.”

The important part, he said, was the transition from “information” to “knowledge”. Analysis must be active and requires an increase in real-time data processing, which requires a strong data processing method. He called for a strengthening of the statistics processing unit, cautioning that the raw data must be reliable.

In his address, the Minister for Home Affairs and National Security, Carmelo Abela thanked the police for their work and efforts towards evolution, saying that the police force itself must be proactive and not reactive in the face of new challenges. Abela told the Police present that the next step is to go from information gathering to action and anticipate crime and pointed out that the government is “actively working to assist victims of crime with its draft Victims of Crime Bill.”

Abela said a consultation process with police is underway to identify the strategic changes necessary. “Every policeman has a part to play in this process,” he said. He explained that community policing was a fundamental principle in tackling crime. Giving an example of measures taken to make this direction a reality, he pointed to developments in Swieqi, which suffers a “criminality overspill” from neighbouring Paceville. 

Abela said he recognised the fears and concerns of families in the localities and announced that human resources at the Swieqi police station were to be strengthened, adding that his aim was to do the same in all other localities where this is needed.