THE central business district (CBD) of Kempton Park alone contributes to half of the crime in Kempton Park.
This was revealed at a ward committee and community crime meeting organised by DA Ward 16 Councillor, Jaco Terblanche.
Kempton SAPS, Norkem SAPS and the metro police gave feedback on crime during the six months from August 2014 until January 2015.
Business and house burglaries and/or robberies topped the list with only five criminals arrested for these crimes during those six months.
“The Shoprite Shopping Centre is one of the biggest targets for criminals where they keep an eye on the delivery and collection times of cash-in-transit vehicles,” a crime intelligence officer of Kempton SAPS, said.
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He said times differed for when crimes were committed. Businesses are targeted at night because there is usually no one on the property, whereas households are targeted during the day, when people are not home.
“Ext 2 is one of the bigger problem areas, as criminals target the elderly residents and because they also have an easy escape route via the railway lines. Burglaries and armed robberies are very common there.”
Some of the suspects were caught either during the crime or just afterwards while trying to flee.
The crime intelligence officer presented a crime report for Kempton SAPS from August 2014 until January 2015:
• 67 people had been arrested for drug-related charges
• 3 criminals arrested for business burglary
• 2 people caught for house robbery
• 1 arrested for motor vehicle theft
Although the number of arrests was low, Station Commander Brigadier Kgoroba reminded residents that most of the criminals arrested were repeat offenders who were linked to various other crimes.
“So just because five suspects were arrested, it doesn’t mean it’s only for five crimes. Each of those five suspects is linked to multiple crimes, which solves many other cases,” Kgoroba explained.
