A 16% decrease in criminality was recorded in Malta in 2020 when compared to 2019, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri announced on Saturday.

This is certainly good news. While the Covid-19 pandemic must have played a part in this, given the restrictions resulting in less crimes being able to be committed, one hopes that the reduced crime rate will at least remain stable, and preferably continue to decrease in the coming years.

Among the highest percentage decrease in crimes are theft (31% less), damages (19%), bodily harm (16%), sexual offenses (14%) and fraud (1%). The reduction in theft comes as no surprise. With people being unable to remain in groups and becoming more aware of social distancing, it comes as no surprise that there has been such a reduction.

On the other hand, certain types of crimes did see an increase - immigration, prostitution, money laundering, computer misuse (44%), drug cases (6%), domestic violence (24%) and public threats and violence (20%).

It is not news that domestic violence is a problem in Malta, and over the years the number of people plucking up the courage to come forward has increased. The pandemic and the quarantines it brought with it could have resulted in a higher number of cases coming to the fore.

It is clear that the effects of the pandemic and its restrictions are reflected in the types of crimes being committed, but one must note that criminality in Malta was on a downward trend before Covid-19 hit. Indeed, Criminologist Saviour Formosa said that since 2016 Malta has seen a decrease of 24% in criminality.

Formosa said: "Malta is seeing a trend-line decrease as year after year criminality reduces. The Covid-19 pandemic made us grasp a better understanding of the crimes that occur by citizens living in Malta and Gozo only, as due to the restrictive measures, we did not have many tourists.” Formosa highlighted that it is crucial for this country to be prepared for when tourists come back to Malta in order to ensure that criminality does not increase.

The Police Force has also been working on community policing, having more officers out and about in the streets in our localities. Such a move will definitely help prevent lower crimes. But Malta also has several high-tech industries and high-quality sectors, where more sophisticated forms of crimes can be committed. The Police Force has been working on improving its action in these areas, in tackling money laundering for example. But there is more work to be done. Such crimes usually evolve frequently, and the Police Force must evolve at a fast pace to detect and keep on top of such crimes.

All in all, since Commissioner Angelo Gafa took over the Police Force seems to be taking steps in the right direction, and one hopes that the Force can keep moving along these lines in order to continue regaining the trust it lost over recent years.