POLICE yesterday denied reports that crime in the Paphos area was soaring.
“Crime here is normal — on a par with the rest of Cyprus,” Spyros Koniotis, Divisional Commander of Paphos Police said yesterday. “We have a few more burglaries now because it’s summer time, that’s all.”
His comments follow reports in Monday’s Phileleftheros alleging dramatic increases in crime in the coastal town in the first six months of 2003. The daily said 451 burglaries had been recorded so far this year, whereas just 47 were recorded for the whole of 2002.”
“We (may) have an increase in crimes, but it’s not a dangerous increase,” Koniotis insisted.
Police spokesman Demetris Demetriou said the press report did not represent the true picture regarding crime, explaining that until 2003, not all crimes had been recorded by police for statistical purposes.
“We can’t compare last year’s statistics with this year’s,” he said. “It appears (from the figures) that some offences have gone up since last year, such as burglaries and offences against property. But the reason for this is that we didn’t record all offences for statistical purposes last year. Of course, all crimes were investigated, but some were not recorded for statistics.”
He added that this year, all crimes were being recorded following a change of policy.
“On his appointment, new Chief of Police Tassos Panayiotou gave instructions that all crimes should be recorded for statistical purposes.”
Demetriou admitted the number of burglaries and thefts had risen: “Especially in Paphos we have an increase in burglaries and thefts,” he said. But he stressed the problem could be overcome if residents took simple precautions.
“When people leave their house, they should make sure all doors are locked and perhaps leave on a light at night for security.
“We have also seen thefts from cars – people leave belongings inside cars on display, and they should remove them from view.”
But some Paphos residents are unhappy at the situation.
“There’s definitely been an increase in crime,” said one woman.
“It’s unfortunate,” said another woman, whose Paphos apartment was burgled recently. “If you look through a brochure on Cyprus, you see ‘low crime’ advertised. Yes, there is low crime but you still have to take precautions like anywhere else.”
Since her apartment was burgled she has invested in a security camera and the communal entrance doors to her apartment block are now kept locked at all times.
“We did feel safe but obviously times change. We’ve noticed a change in the last year or so, especially,” she said. “The Tombs of the Kings’ area is especially bad – there is a lack of security, a lack of supervision, a lack of police patrols and the police are unwilling to publish true crime figures.”
She added that she and her family were leaving Paphos as a result.
“We’re moving to Nicosia where apartment blocks seem to have security and where we’re not alone in a complex where only holidaymakers come to stay.”
