Mayor of Larnaca Andreas Vyras on Wednesday called an emergency meeting to discuss the lack of safety felt by residents of Drosia. Residents said that since December they had been plagued by a marked uptick in incidents of petty theft ranging from windshield wipers removed from cars to burglars entering the homes of elderly residents and stealing consumables.

Members of the community had told Vyras that they felt they had to resort to patrolling the streets and confronting burglars themselves as they act with impunity while police response is absent. The residents had formed organised groups and were keeping a neighbourhood watch, they said.

Speaking to CyBC on Wednesday, police spokesman Spiros Chrysostomou refuted the accusation that police patrols were absent and said police had “initiated cooperation” with the public and the municipality to address the problem.

Police were doing everything in their power to handle the matter and several criminals had already been lead to court, he said, adding that the problem was district-wide and not confined to Drosia.

“We cannot state publicly how many patrol cars are available at any given time,” the police rep said.

Last Friday police had arrested one burglar in the area who was found with some of the stolen items.

Frustrated residents had meanwhile suggested the need to hire private security guards, after members of the public reported being threatened inside their homes, yards and in the street, both in broad daylight and at night.

The residents are having to check CCTV footage themselves one member of the community told Philenews, as the police did not do the job, while published footage is alleged to show a perpetrator scouting out cars in an underground parking lot.

A group of 360-strong had been started via WhatsAp, resident Atremios Mallas told the daily, and participants keep each other alerted to incidents, which are happening on a daily basis.

According to Mallas, the perpetrators mainly target the properties of elderly residents in an organised fashion, keeping track of their movements.

A meeting has been booked for Thursday between authorities, residents, and the police management, to discuss actions to be taken.