Summer is high season for tourists and pickpockets, and this year Copenhagen will see more of both.
Police warn of increasing numbers of eastern European thieves travelling to Copenhagen, Berlingske reports. The city has lately been hit by a wave of pickpockets, luggage theft and stealing at cafés and restaurants.
From 2010 to 2013, the number of robbery reports rose from 20,525 to 29,724, which last year led to Copenhagen Police establishing a special task force to deal with the seasonal crime.
Influx uncontrolled
"The numbers are way too high and we can't accept the development," Jan Bjørn, an inspector with Copenhagen Police, told Metroxpress.
"But we can't control the influx of thieves, so it's a tough battle."
Police have managed to curb the development in the first five months of this year, but the summer holidays remain a major challenge.
Africans take over at night
Most thefts and robberies are carried out by eastern European criminals and northern African asylum seekers.
"Eastern Europeans and especially Romanian thieves come here and perform this type of crime in the daytime, while the northern African asylum seekers take over in the nightlife," Bjørn said.
