Tackling the ever greater rise in crime

FIGURES from the Justice Ministry this month have shown a new rise in the number of serious crimes committed in Cyprus, from 7,250 in 2005, to 7,955 last year, an increase of almost 10 per cent.

Of even more concern is the longer-term trend, which shows an increase in serious crime of 67 per cent since 2002. In 2002, there were just two murders, compared to 14 last year, 131 rapes compared to 30 last year, 1,228 break-ins to 3,082 in 2006, 948 thefts to 1,618… The list goes on.

Indeed, we don’t need government statistics to tell us how much the situation has changed. Every news bulletin (once the Cyprus problem has received its due attention) is a catalogue of crime and delinquency. People feel crime in a way they never did before. Everyone today has either been a victim of crime or knows someone who has, whereas in years past it was something inconceivable.

Who in the cities today remembers the days when they used to leave their front doors open and the car keys on the ignition? Nowadays, most new houses are wired up with sophisticated alarm systems, while the sound of a car alarm going off is likely to be for real, coming from down the street, rather than some fictional American crime series on TV.

Police are struggling to cope, but must be congratulated for what they do achieve. Police in Cyprus last year solved 49.92 per cent of all serious crimes committed on the island, up slightly from the previous year, though down from the impressive 73.61 per cent in 2002. But to be appreciated, the figures need to be compared to those of other forces overseas.

Clear-up rates in the UK are about 25 per cent (falling to around 14 per cent in the London area), while in the United States only about one in five crimes gets solved. The police’s efforts also need to be understood in the perspective of the means at their disposal. Crime has almost doubled in the past four years, yet their resources and manpower have not kept pace. And this is one of the key problems that Cyprus has to tackle in the coming years.

Social change and greater prosperity have vastly improved the lives and opportunities of most people in this country. But they are also bringing with them the same problems that are the bane of every Western society, an explosive cocktail of family breakdown, growing delinquency and drugs – indeed Cyprus now has one of the highest rates of drug death per inhabitant in Europe, where once drugs were limited to a mere handful of cannabis smokers.

At the same time, the whole infrastructure of the state remains set in a model that dates back to the days when crime was almost non-existent, when extended families cast their protective net to ensure a soft landing to anyone going through a tough time. In the circumstances, departments like the social services, the prisons and the police are battling with means totally inadequate for the job at hand.

If we are to maintain the relative safety that we still feel, and stop our cities spiralling into the kind of fear that is normal in many cities across the industrialised world, we urgently need to give greater resources to the services that are on the front line of this battle. This means more personnel and equipment, but it also means continuous training to understand the new situation we are facing, it means more prison spaces, but it also means a far greater availability of drug rehabilitation treatment, both inside the penal system and out in society.Indeed, the response cannot be merely punitive.

As a society, we have to address the issue of social delinquency that leads to crime. Many suburbs of Nicosia and Limassol have become the breeding ground for juvenile delinquency and anti-social behaviour. Graffiti, vandalism and harassment are all too common. By allowing this situation to develop, we are failing our children.

Today, Cyprus enjoys almost zero unemployment, but if tomorrow, the economy slows down and unemployment rises to 10, 15 or 20 per cent, as is the case elsewhere in Europe, Cyprus will be facing an explosive situation.

This is why the government needs to act fast, not just be adopting new laws, but by being present on the ground. Local authorities need to be given the resources to develop networks on the ground, employing young people from the community who provide a contact point for the community through youth and neighbourhood centres.We still can have a head start on the situation.

We know the trends from Greece and elsewhere, the dangers that lie ahead. So far, we have been reacting to crime. Let us use the opportunity we still have to pre-empt it, by targeting the social exclusion that breeds the criminals of tomorrow.

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