Last Friday saw the release of the third quarterly crime statistics. They reflect crimes reported to the SAPS from October 1 to December 31 last year, and it was a mixed bag for the Brakpan police.
The stats for the local SAPS revealed a sharp rise in the crimes of kidnapping and common assault, while offences such as carjacking and robbery showed a decline.
The Brakpan Police Station also featured on three top 30 lists – robbery of cash-in-transit vehicles, truck hijackings and 17 community-reported serious crimes. The latter is 17 categories of crimes reported by the community.
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The Brakpan SAPS occupies 24th position nationally and 17th position provincially for the robbery of cash-in-transit vehicles, despite only one case reported during the period.
Brakpan occupies the 24th position nationally and the 20th provincially for truck hijackings. In the 17 community-reported serious crimes category, Brakpan made the provincial top 30 list and is again in 24th position.
The station is 158th nationally in this category. Brakpan’s full stats are below and are compared to the same period as the previous year.
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Contact crimes (crimes against a person)
• Murder increased from four cases the previous year to six.
• Sexual offences decreased from 28 to 24.
• Attempted murder increased from seven to eight.
• Assault GBH increased from 23 to 32.
• Common assault increased from 68 to 102.
• Common robbery decreased from 17 to 12.
• Robbery with aggravating circumstances decreased from 91 to 67.
Total contact crimes increased from 238 to 251.
Sexual offences
• Rape decreased from 18 cases the previous year to 16.
• Sexual assault remained the same at eight cases.
• Attempted sexual offences remained the same, and no cases were reported.
• Contact sexual offences decreased from two cases to none.
Some subcategories of aggravated robbery
• Carjacking decreased from 23 cases the previous year to six.
• Robbery at residential premises decreased from 13 to 12.
• Robbery at non-residential premises decreased from 15 to 12.
• Trio crime decreased from 51 to 30.
• Robbery of cash-in-transit vehicles increased from no cases to one.
• Bank robbery remained the same, and no cases were reported.
• Truck hijacking decreased from nine to five.
Contact-related crimes
• Arson remained the same, and no cases were reported.
• Malicious damage to property increased from 42 cases to 47.
Total contact-related crimes increased from 42 to 47.
Property-related crimes
• Burglary at non-residential premises decreased from 28 cases the previous year to 22.
• Burglary at residential premises increased from 68 to 74.
• Theft of motor vehicles and motorcycles decreased from 42 to 40.
• Theft out of or from motor vehicles decreased from 36 to 34.
• Stock theft decreased from two to none.
Total property-related crimes decreased from 172 to 170.
Other serious crimes
• All theft not mentioned elsewhere increased from 194 cases the previous year to 214.
• Commercial crime decreased from 86 to 83.
• Shoplifting decreased from 50 to 48.
Total other serious crimes increased from 330 to 345. A total of 17 community-reported serious crimes increased from 782 to 813.
Crime detected as a result of police action
• Illegal possession of firearms and ammunition decreased from 11 cases the previous year to eight.
• Drug-related crime increased from 110 to 118.
• Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs increased from 19 to 35.
• Sexual offences detected because of police action remained the same at no cases.
Total crime detected because of police action increased from 140 to 161.
• Kidnapping increased from three cases the previous year to 11.
• Information obtained from saps.gov.za
