Police urge precautions against petty thefts

Prevention is better than cure is the message any enforcement officer would give members of the public, so as not to make their cars and property easier prey for thieves.

The assistant commissioner of police in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department, Emanuel Cassar said when he discussed the matter with The Times that behaviour by certain individuals was at times tantamount to an invitation to thieves to steal their possessions.

Reports of mobile phones being stolen after their owners left them unattended are very common.

Also very common are petty thefts from cars in which personal belongings are left in full view while a vehicle is unattended. The same applied to personal belongings left unattended on beaches during summer.

Leaving a briefcase, wallet, mobile phone or other belongings on car seats or dashboards is like asking a thief to shatter the car window to steal whatever item he fancies.

Mr Cassar said the police considered the majority of such petty crimes to be the result of addicts trying to fund their habit.

People are urged to take the necessary precautions not to leave valuable items in cars and if they have to, they should keep them out of sight to avoid tempting would-be thieves. People going to the beach in summer need not take jewellery or considerable sums of money with them, Mr Cassar said.

Replying to a question in parliament, Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg said 2,643 thefts from cars were reported in the first 10 months of 2002.

The police had set up special units to patrol the most crowded beaches in the summer months in a bid to act as a deterrent to would-be thieves.

Figures supplied by the police for the first seven months of last year show that 235 thefts of belongings were reported from beaches in Malta and Gozo.

The total number of thefts from beaches by July of each year between 1999 and 2001 was 193, 134 and 163. The highest number of such thefts last year were in July, 153 and June, 63.

The corresponding number of total thefts in June and July in the years 1999, 2000 and 2001 was 108, 95 and 110 respectively.

Beach thefts in August amounted to 128, 139 and 104 in the years under review. Totals until December for those three years amounted to 370, 326 and 335 respectively.

The total number of arraignments in connection with such thefts over the past four years was 44 - eight in 1999; five in 2000; 13 in 2001 and 18 until July last year.