Thefts and break-ins continue to be a big problem for many traders and artisans. The most critical situations occur in the North: Milan, Parma, Bologna, Rimini, Imperia, Florence and Turin are the Italian provinces where shopkeepers are most targeted by criminals. At a national level, in almost 3 out of 4 cases, the perpetrators of these thefts committed against shops and shops remain unpunished.
We are obviously talking about property crimes which have been reported by the victims to the police and which, it is estimated, cost economic activities around 3 billion euros a year.
The difficulty of bringing to justice those who have been responsible for these offenses is now becoming chronic and is probably also "influencing" the statistics. In fact, it cannot be excluded that the reduction in the number of complaints recorded in the last few years before the advent of Covid is not attributable to a newfound security, but to an attitude of distrust of the victims towards the institutions that "pushes" them not to report the damage suffered to the judicial authorities.
The CGIA Studies Office, which processed the Istat data, is keen to point out that it does not want to raise any criticism of the forces of order. On the contrary, the commitment, dedication and sense of duty have never failed. Unfortunately, the problem is political in nature. If the Carabinieri corps and that of the State Police had a greater number of men and means capable of guarding the territory with greater attention, especially at night, the criminals would certainly have a harder life.
A theft every 9 minutes
In 2021 (the last year in which data is available) there were 56.782 complaints of theft from stores in Italy, 10,8 percent more than in 2020 (the most critical year of the pandemic crisis) . Basically commercial / craft operators in 2021 suffered 156 thefts a day, 6,5 every hour and 1 every 9 minutes.
Of these 56.782, in 72,3 percent of the cases – practically almost 3 out of 4 – the perpetrator/s of the crime were not captured by the police forces within a year of the event. The regions where the criminals get away most are Umbria and Marche (both in 73,8 percent of cases), Campania (79,8 percent) and, in particular, in Lazio (81,3 percent). If, on the other hand, we analyze the number of thefts per 100 inhabitants, Lombardy (138,8), Emilia Romagna (142,1) and Liguria (144,8) are the regions most "battered" by robbers.
Finally, at the provincial level, the territories most affected by the raids of these criminals are Turin with 155,5 thefts reported per 100 inhabitants, Florence with 160,3, Imperia with 167,5, Rimini with 186,5, Bologna with 186,9, 194,5 and Parma with 222,8. The black jersey at national level is Milan with 100 thefts per XNUMX inhabitants.
Shops like forts
The defense strategies implemented by the shopkeepers are known to most: in recent years there has been a boom in the installation of rolling shutters, railings and shatterproof glass to defend against "raiding" by criminals. Shops have become forts which, controlled 24 hours a day by video surveillance systems, have "stacked" these intrusions. Often, however, in prestigious buildings or in more recent buildings, installing grates is not allowed. It should also be noted that the number of those who resort to insurance is decreasing. The premium on an anti-theft policy is now prohibitively expensive, especially for some types of goods, obviously the most valuable ones.
The most risky activities
Historically, the categories most paid attention to by thieves and robbers are goldsmiths/jewellers, furriers, tobacconists, pharmacists and petrol stations. The first two for the economic value of their products, the others for the availability of cash on hand. Now thanks to electronic payments, surveillance cameras and time vaults the risk has decreased, however they still remain a sensitive target for many gangs dedicated to theft. For some years now, even technological product shops (computers, mobile phones, TV, etc.), auto-motorcycle repairers/dealers, prestigious bike dealers, supermarkets/groceries, fashion/ sportswear and cosmetics and perfume shops.