BEREA police took to the streets and shopping centres around the area in an effort to alert the public to opportunistic crimes prevalent in the area.
Captain BP Khanyile, Head of Social Crime Prevention, and Colonel WR Xulu headed the crime awareness campaign, which aims to make the public aware of avoidable crimes by chatting to them and handing out pamphlets.
“Theft out of motor vehicles has been a problem in the Berea policing area for a while now, so we want to encourage people not to leave valuables in their vehicles,” said Khanyile.
The awareness pamphlet, sponsored by SAPS partners, Security Hyperstore, asks the public not to leave valuables in vehicles as this could create opportunities for criminals to break in. A warning, with pictures of items regularly reported stolen from motor vehicles, such as cellphones, firearms, tools, wallets, laptops, clothing accessories, music systems and CDs, is displayed in the pamphlet.
A team of police members greeted residents and handed out the informative pamphlets at the Windermere Centre on Friday. Local resident, Gerald Abraham said, “It was a good idea for the police to personally hand out the pamphlets because people can interact with them and ask questions. People don’t realise how crime can be avoided – it happened to our family when a baby’s bag was taken. We didn’t realise that this would cause someone to break in, but I guess that shows you the desperation.
“Unless you have experienced it you will not be careful. Nothing must be exposed, even the smallest things are taken and you are left with a big inconvenience,” he warned.
Veronica Ngubane, a Windermere resident, said she was 'happy to see the police out and about because it is good to promote safety'.
Col Xulu said the crime awareness campaign, which was started last Friday, will continue every Friday at various locations until an improvement is noticed. He added at least 40 percent of these theft cases will be reduced if everyone keeps valuables out of view in vehicles. “We will be addressing different crimes that are occurring or prevalent in the area through the awareness campaign, especially those that can be avoided,” said Xulu.
