Jun 24, 2005: Police to Step Up Patrols to Protect Foreigners

By Galina Stolyarova
STAFF WRITER

In response to alarm expressed by the St. Petersburg tourism industry at a crime wave against foreign tourists, city police have announced they are taking steps to counter the pickpocket gangs.

Staff from 15 private security agencies have been recruited to join forces with the city police to prevent crimes against foreigners in the high season, the police said in a letter to the city branch of the Russian Tourism Industry Union, or RST.

Three police teams will patrol metro trains and the platforms of the city‘s three busiest stations - Ploshchad Vosstaniya, Nevsky Prospekt and Technologichesky Institute - where thieves have been extremely active, the letter said.

Patrol routes will be revised in order to get more officers into more high-risk areas. Volunteer security brigades will also be used for street patrols, the letter said.

Police said four police cars and 40 policemen working in two shifts patrol Nevsky Prospekt, where up to 10 pickpockets are detained daily.

The police this month were harshly criticized and their efforts branded disproportionate to the scale of criminality at a meeting of the RST.

Tourism industry professionals feel crime prevention is weak and the police are trying to put their responsibilities to protect tourists onto tour operators.

Sergei Korneyev, head of the Northwestern branch of RST, said the union has asked the police to resume joint patrolling of dangerous areas, as was done in 2003, when the city celebrated its 300th anniversary.

"Then they recruited staff from criminal police and other departments, and the result was immediate: crime levels plummeted," Korneyev said. "Now, it is the time to do the same before the wave grows further."

RST also called for the creation of a tourist police, like those that exist in many foreign cities, including Prague.

"We need it not because the criminal situation is horrible - it is better than in tourist Meccas like Paris or New York - but because we need to show that we care," Korneyev said. "When people arrive somewhere and learn there is a tourist police there, they feel better about the place from the start."

In addition, tourist police would be useful in promoting the city abroad.

Albert Helms, general manager of the Renaissance St. Petersburg Baltic Hotel, suggested introducing 24-hour surveillance in the Nevsky Prospekt area and the central metro stations as is done in London. He also recommended using the experience of the U.S. police of patrolling on mountain bikes.

"A hotline in English, German, French and Italian is essential," Helms said. "A top priority is to create a central tourist police office where crimes can be registered at all times."

When tour operators ask the police for extra staff, especially multilingual officers, the usual response is lack of funding.

If a crime is committed against a tourist, it has to be registered at a local police station. To make an insurance claim, travelers require a certificate confirming a theft. Most staff at ordinary police stations don‘t speak foreign languages, which makes it impossible or painstakingly long to register the crime, while the tourist information center at 14 Sadovaya Ulitsa operates only during business hours.

"We are really doing what we can but we are understaffed and have limited resources," said Andrei Stanchenko, head of the city police‘s special task force investigating crimes involving foreigners.

According to official statistics, the 500 to 600 crimes registered against foreigners every year all get solved, but this is misleading because many crimes are not recorded by the police.

At a recent meeting on incoming tourism issues organized by the city branch of the RST, several heads of travel agencies reported that more than four dozen of their clients had been unable to register thefts.

Helms said his hotel warns the guests about high-risk areas for robbery and pickpocketing. But foreign tourists remain an easy target. Many of them are elderly and they sometimes find it more difficult to concentrate and be alert, especially in noisy places like Nevsky Prospekt or in the metro.

Considering the importance of the industry for St. Petersburg, the RST advised the city government to appeal directly to the federal Interior Ministry to provide funding for more staff to create a centralized service to register crimes against tourists.

St. Petersburg receives the highest numbers of tourists in all of Russia. Last year, the city received 3 million visitors.

Florian Seitz, spokesman for the German Consulate General in St. Petersburg, said the number of robberies is rising again. The consulate gets five to 10 calls a day from German tourists who are robbed.

"The worst cases are when their passports are taken, because the visa is in the passport," Seitz said. "Obtaining an exit visa is not only time consuming but is also very expensive."

An exit visa can be obtained directly at Pulkovo International Airport for about $150 to be received on the same day or the next day. To get an exit visa, foreign tourists may turn to the Visa Registration Center, or OVIR, but when only one or two days are left, this is not an option.

The scenarios described by German tourists show that the behavior of the gangs of thieves is the same in many cases. Typically, the tourists are crushed in the metro or on other public transportation or on a busy street, and their wallets are promptly removed. The robbery often happens a moment before doors close, so that the victims are separated from the thieves and can‘t follow them.

Seitz urged tourists to be extremely careful. "The thieves are getting slicker and slicker," he said.

The City Tourist Information Center at 14, Sadovaya Ulitsa - Tel. 310 82-62 and 310-28-22 - provides English-language help to crime victims.
Open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed on Saturdays and Sundays.