People may think Paceville is progressively descending into a lawless jungle of crime and violent fights but the police there say the nightlife hub is, in fact, much more peaceful than what people think.

Times of Malta recently joined the police for a night out in Paceville to find out to what extent the perceived anarchy is real.

“We are called to stop fights, yes, but the situation is nowhere near as bad as people think it is,” police inspector Jonathan Ransley said, as he walked with his officers from the St Julian’s police station to Paceville and stationed them in strategic spots to be ready for action.

“In my nine years working in Paceville, I have only witnessed one really bad and dangerous situation and that is the fight that involved the use of barriers, which happened earlier this year.”

He was talking about an incident last June, when tens of people were caught in a huge brawl, during which iron barriers were kicked, shoved and thrown at bouncers and clubbers.

The incident happened a week after other people were injured in multiple, separate fights and a month after a man attacked restaurant patrons with a knife and a glass bottle.

The reaction on social media following the incidents revealed that the series of videos of the fights, which went viral, led to a public perception that trouble breaks out randomly and frequently in Paceville.

“It’s a matter of moral panic. The videos of fights which people repeatedly watch on social media become very much like episodes in a drama series that lead them to believe that that is the everyday reality of Paceville,” regional police superintendent Melvyn Camilleri explained.

“And they astonishingly say: ‘So many fights are breaking out, look at what we’ve become’.”

This is not to say that crime in Paceville is low. For the police, a night in Paceville is nothing like a walk in the park.

“I can’t tell you we like it. We all get a bit edgy when we’re working here,” Ransley said.

“Small fights do break out and, when they do, there’s no time to be afraid. Sometimes, police officers are hurt. But it’s entirely expected in a location teeming with nightlife.”

In the past four years, 400 fights led to injuries in Paceville and St Julian’s, a number which is considerably higher than in other localities, the officers said. But there are way more people too and many of them are drunk.

“Paceville easily attracts 15,000 clubbers per night on a busy weekend. That means 15,000 are essentially concentrated in one street and a narrow staircase where they are forced to bump into each other continuously,” Camilleri said.

“On top of that, many of them are drunk. Of course, crime and brawls are more likely but it’s not anarchy.

“We usually arrest a person or two each weekend, generally for getting in fights, injuring people or damaging property.”

The statistics correspond to Camilleri and Ransley’s explanations. There were 375 serious fights in Paceville between 2018 and 2021: an average of 1.8 every weekend.

But the number is on a downward trend. In 2021, the police handled 1.3 fights each weekend.

Moreover, the officers said they notice Maltese clubbers have significantly shied away from Paceville over the past few years and seem to have headed to Valletta. Most of the clubbers that remain are foreign students and tourists.

Times of Malta visited Paceville on a Friday night. By midnight, most bars were full to the brim and a couple of clubs had lines of people by the door, waiting to be admitted.

By 1am, walking up and down the infamous staircase required some caution but people were behaving and the police received no reports of fighting or crime.

Police patrol Paceville with service dogs and the mounted section as well. Photo: Jonathan Borg

At about 1.30am, Ransley informed Camilleri that some officers were alerted to an altercation in a hotel room.

Ransley and three other officers went there to find a man who had just hit his partner in the presence of their daughter. The officers arrested the man and took him to the police station after he began to threaten them.

Over the years, St Julian’s local council and residents repeatedly called for more enforcement and stronger police presence in the nightlife hub.

Camilleri believes an effort to have more people patrolling Paceville might drastically reduce crime.

“If the police had to join forces with other enforcement officers from all entities concerned here, crime would probably decrease significantly because the presence of more patrolling personnel would deter people from causing trouble,” he said.

Every police officer in the force is required to serve in Paceville, even the ones who are not stationed in the St Julian’s district. It is anxiety-provoking, especially for the young officers, but it is essential for their maturity on the job, Camilleri and Ransley agreed.

On busy nights, service dogs and the mounted police joint in patrolling Paceville.

Camilleri said the large stature and docile behaviour of the horses help prevent crime but are also cute enough to urge the public to interact with officers and take selfies with the animals.

And, yes, in the police world, the service animals have a rank too. Horses enjoy the rank of inspectors and dogs are sergeants.