The Brixton Police Station is determined to make their precinct’s streets safer for students and started by taking two suspected robbers into custody at a student crime hotspot.
The hotspot located at the Empire Road and Kingsway Road intersection in Auckland Park is said by police to be a crime hotspot where students are robbed of their laptops and cellphones.
“You see, usually students walk around with earphones and their heads down, looking into a phone. They aren’t aware of things happening around them which makes them easy targets to surprise and rob,” Brixton Police Station commander, Colonel Mkhacani Maluleke said.
During a crime prevention operation with various security companies, the Brixton police visited the site and took two suspected robbers into custody.
Maluleke believes that the two arrested men who used to hang around the intersection were responsible for various robberies on students.
He said the men told him on a previous occasion that they were taxi marshalls which was why they were always at the intersection.
Maluleke added that the police would be contacting taxi authorities to determine whether they were, in fact, marshalls.
He said while they believe the men were responsible for most of the crime at the intersection, students needed to play their part in the fight against crime such as being aware of their surroundings and walking in groups. He also advised students against walking around with earphones for their own safety.
“We will do everything in our power to make these streets safe for students to walk on. They have a lot to worry about. They don’t need to worry about being robbed,” Maluleke said.
ALSO READ: Theft out of vehicles and vehicle theft still a problem in Melville
