Crime slightly down in Polis compared with five years ago, minister says

Crime has fallen slightly in the Polis area since 2011, Justice Minister Ionas Nicolaou said on Monday during a meeting to discuss policing in the area, CNA reported.

According to the minister, after a meeting with Edek MP Elias Myrianthous, burglaries in 2011 amounted to 25, while in 2016 there were 21. Serious crime in 2011 amounted to 54 incidents, which fell to 43 in 2016 and total petty crime, from 77 cases in 2011, dropped to 67 last year, he said.

Polis has a neighbourhood watch programme involving 60 members of the community and the aim is to strengthen policing to further reduce crime, the minister said. Nicoloau said that according to staffing studies, Polis needed 25 police officers and that currently there were 23.

Myrianthous pressed home the issue of understaffing and called for it to be rectified. He said the thefts and other illegal acts in the area created an enormous impact on the social and economic life of residents.

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