Robberies with violence and intimidation, robberies with force in homes and thefts have skyrocketed so far this year in Lanzarote, compared to the same period in 2015. This is shown by the crime data from the Ministry of the Interior, which reflect that so far this year on the island there have been 58.5% more robberies with violence and intimidation and 36.1% more robberies with force in homes. Thefts, meanwhile, have increased by 7%. This trend is repeated and becomes even more pronounced in Arrecife, where the increase in robberies in homes shoots up to 83.3% and that of robberies with violence, 88.9%. It is also seen in theft crimes, which have grown in the city by 29.8%.
According to the Ministry's figures, which collect information from the Civil Guard, the Local Police and the municipal police forces, there has also been an increase in police interventions for drug trafficking crimes so far in 2016. Homicides and vehicle theft are the only indicators in this statistic that decrease. In this way, crime for all these crimes has grown in Lanzarote by 8.7% this year and 21.4% in the case of Arrecife.
Specifically, in the first half of this year a total of 215 burglaries were committed in Lanzarote, 57 (36.1% more) more than in the first semester of 2015, when 158 were recorded. Just under a third of these robberies were committed in Arrecife, where the increase in this type of crime is especially considerable, as there were 30 more robberies in homes in those 6 months than the previous year (66 compared to 36, 83.3% more).
As for robberies with violence and intimidation, the police forces have evidence of 65 throughout the island so far this year, compared to 41 last year. That is, 24 more (58.5%) than in the first semester of 2015. More than half of these robberies occurred in Arrecife, where the upward trend in this type of crime is also especially clear. And it is that between January and June of this year 34 robberies with violence were registered in the capital, almost double the 18 of 2015, specifically, 88.9% more.
Also more thefts and more crimes for damages
Thefts, which are the most frequent type of crime, have also grown. In the first half of 2015 there were 930 and this year there are 995, 65 more (7%). In Arrecife, the increase in this type of crime exceeds the island average. And it has gone from 252 thefts between January and June of last year to 327 this year, that is, 75 more or, what is the same, 29.8% more. Regarding police interventions for drug trafficking, they have also increased. In the global data of Lanzarote it has gone from 11 to 21, 90.9% more, while in Arrecife of the 3 registered last year, this 2016 there have been 11. This represents an increase of 266.7% of these police actions.
There is another type of crime that also increases, that of damages, which is the second most numerous after thefts. As for the data for the entire island, the increase is slight, with 8 more cases (321 in 2016 compared to 313 in 2015) and a percentage of 2.6%. In Arrecife, again, the increase is greater: so far this year 165 crimes of this nature have been registered, while last year there were 139. This represents an increase of 18.7%, with 26 more cases.
Thus, the only figures on the decline that are found in these crime data are those that refer to intentional homicides and completed murders, since in the first semester of 2015 2 were registered and this year there has been none, and to the theft of vehicles. In this last case, the 72 vehicle thefts registered in the first semester of 2015 in Lanzarote have been reduced to 54 this year, decreasing by 25%. In Arrecife the figure falls more, from 45 to 27, which represents 40% less.
Greater increase in the second quarter than in the first
In global terms, if these crimes are added to the misdemeanors, the increase in crime in both Lanzarote and Arrecife is lower. In the whole of the island, it has gone from 3,315 crimes and misdemeanors in 2015 to 3,361, 46 more. This gives an increase of 1.4%. For its part, in Arrecife the increase is 15.1%, going from 1,127 to 1,297.
According to the breakdown of these figures by the Lanzarote Data Center, more crimes have been committed in the second quarter of this year than in the first, in all modalities. If that second quarter is compared with the same period of 2015, it can be seen that robberies with violence have skyrocketed on the island by 78%, while robberies with force in homes have done so by 95% and drug trafficking by 200%. Thefts, on the other hand, would increase by 14.1% and crimes for damages, by 5.1%. Vehicle thefts, meanwhile, fell by 35.3%.
