European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 23, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse White the crowds of St. Peter s Square and other tourist attractions make Good targets for pickpockets and purse snatchers Rome despite what Many people think does not have a High crime rate. 7rome Amon Western Europe s safer capital by William d. Montalbano los Angeles times americans take their preconceptions to Rome just As italians carry theirs to new York or los Angeles. They tour historic and chaotic streets with belly bags closely held. They watch out for pickpockets on the no. 64 bus to the Vatican keep away from Gypsy Ragamuffin walk on eggs at the big Termini train station. If the muggers Don t get you the mafia will. It caution is always prudent so is separating myth from reality. Rome and other big italian cities have Rooks aplenty and crime is accelerating there just like nearly everywhere else. Still romans and their visitors Are a lot safer than the average new yorker or residents of Many other West european capitals. That is the word from Interpol the Paris based International police Agency. Overall Italy is safer than France or Germany according to recently released Interpol statistics for 1989 which italian newspapers gave a Gleeful splash. And your chances of getting murdered Are far less in Rome than in London Paris Copenhagen or Vienna. To say nothing of new York where there were More homicides during 1989 1,905 than in the whole of Italy 1,432. Overall the figures say Italy was not As Safe As Spain but trailed then West Germany and France in the danger league despite a 22 percent increase Between 1989 and 1990 in the number of crimes reported. Quot our figures show that Public safety in Italy is in line with other West european countries Quot said Giancarlo Ruffino an Interior ministry undersecretary. Quot and we think the numbers will remain constant Quot when the 1991 figures Are in. Police officials have stepped up efforts to Cut Down on the threat of crime against tourists who see Little of the sorts of organized crime that bedevil italians most. Visitors Are More Likely to be plagued by disorganized crime. In an Effort to control these crimes police Are conducting frequent roundups of pickpockets and purse snatchers in Central Rome. Petty crimes in big cities in Italy Are currently stay Auert in Spain the state department says that Quot hundreds of thousands Quot of americans Are expected to visit Spain in 1992 for the olympic games the world s fair and other events and although Spain has Quot Little history of violent crime Petty crime is a problem. Quot thieves usually work in pairs sometimes opening car doors or. Breaking windows of cars stopped in traffic. To grab a purse or package officials warn. Quot tourists should leave passports and valuables in a hotel Safe copy All documents and carry Only a copy of their passport train stations and crowded places Are the most common Sites for purse and camera Barcelona is hosting the summer olympics from july 25 through aug. 9, Seville is the site of the world s fair from april 20 to oct. 12, and Madrid is the cultural capital of Europe for 1992. A los Angeles times being fuelled by the growing influx of have not migrants from North Africa and Eastern Europe. One fashionable neighbourhood in the Shadow of Rome s City Hall is under siege from the Petty thievery of scrounging poles who Cluster jobless and hungry around a polish Church. What the global Interpol figures Don t show but every italian knows is that How you ire in depends greatly on where you Are and How vulnerable you ire to pressures from organized crime. Quot the most dangerous place in Rome the Termini station is safer than the safest plate in Naples Quot said one senior commander of the paramilitary Carabiner National police. But in the italian South where organized criminal families Are deep rooted not Only in sit ily but also in the Naples Region of Campania and neighbouring Calabria and Puglia the Carabiner count an average of Lour murders and five bombings a Day. The rest of the country where two thirds of the 58 million italians live averages one murder and two bombings a Day. The Lombard Region around Milan which is More Northern european than Mediterranean in wealth and attitudes has been infiltrated lately by organized crime. In june a third of the people quizzed by one pollster in Lombardy listed uprooting the mafia stopping extortion anti halting the drug Trade As the Region s main problems. By october the figure had grown to 41.8 pert ent. Recognizing that they remain on the losing enl of their Long War with the mafia Italy s three National police tortes announced recently that they would Pool resources for better coordination against organized t rime. With a Little Luck they might be Able to make Italy even a Little safer. January 21, 1192 stripes Magazine 1 1
