The recent wave of burglaries, whether petty or otherwise, coinciding with the Christmas festivities, indicates that there is a growing number of criminals in desperate search for money.

The general perception is that the rate of theft this year has been particularly high. An escalating crime rate in any society points to a breakdown of values, where it is no longer considered immoral to take what’s not yours; if you want something badly enough, the answer is to simply steal it. It is often difficult to reconcile this lack of morals with a country which so fervently celebrates its Christianity, and yet each day brings news of another hold-up, another robbery, another mugging.

While a stronger police presence, ideally on foot, would help deter would-be criminals, it is physically impossible for the police to be everywhere. Neighbourhood watches, on the other hand, can easily be implemented whereby neighbours look out for each other and report anything suspicious immediately. According to the police, when commenting about the case of the 80-year-old Sliema woman who was mugged and who later died from her injuries, they do not get enough help from neighbours when it comes to solving cases like this. The fact that they managed to nab the suspects was purely due to footage from CCTV cameras.

Unfortunately, the tendency is for people to say that they “do not want to get involved” probably because this would mean going to court and testifying. However, if no one gets involved it will simply make it even easier for criminals to keep terrorising neighbourhoods.

It will become even easier to walk into an establishment wearing a balaclava and simply point a gun to someone’s head to hand over the cash, as happened with the Zebbug pharmacy hold-up over the weekend. The loss of the cash is minimal compared to the trauma experienced by the two women who went through this ordeal.

Looking the other way and pretending you did not see anything will not help to cut down on the crime rate, it will merely reinforce the bravado of criminals who are now becoming more and more daring when it comes to carrying out burglaries. More vigilance does not require heroics on anyone’s part, but merely better observation in order to help the police carry out their investigation. This could mean anything from taking down the licence plate of a suspicious car, to giving the police a description of suspects.

In the long run, by looking out for one another, neighbours can ensure that their own property and family are also safe.