Pretoria residents have been warned about an expected rise in crime during the approaching festive season.
Police have issued the warning in an attempt to curb house robberies and burglaries.
Residents were urged to put preventative measures in place and fight the gradual rise in burglaries and robberies in the festive seasons.
Brooklyn police Captain Colette Weilbach said prevention was better than cure.
She provide the following tips to remain safe during the festive season:
– Residents are advised to take note of and report people or vehicles that looked suspicious and out of place. Report this to your local security company or police. Always remember to take note of details, such as colour and make of the vehicle, registration and number and description of the people.
– Dogs are very useful. Pay attention to your dog’s way of barking. Learn to distinguish between normal barking and when they are trying to alert you about suspicious activities outside the house.
– Place panic buttons at strategic spots inside the house. Also provide panic buttons to domestic workers and gardeners.
– Ensure alarms and CCTV cameras are always in good working condition. Do not install CCTV cameras too high. Criminals are often wearing caps which could hide their features, should the camera angle be too high.
– Draw and close curtains at night to prevent criminals from identifying movements and whereabouts of the people inside the house.
– Domestic workers and gardeners must not open doors or gates, or allow anyone into the property unless the employer was expecting someone. When in doubt, they should first phone the employer to confirm.
– Join the Sector Policing Forums in your areas. Through these forums residents have access to information which could assist them in emergency situations, like being alerted about new dangers in the area.
Crime tendencies are always changing and the Sector Police Forum’s involvement with police gives residents the ability to monitor and to be made aware of these changes.
Weilbach said this knowledge strengthened the ability to be pro-active by implementing effective and practical crime prevention strategies.
An email could be sent to brooklyncommunication@saps.gov.za to find out more about these forums in the Brooklyn policing area.
These tips follow police success in putting three men behind bars recently who robbed a house in Waterkloof Ridge.
On Monday three men were sentenced in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court to 15 years in prison for a house robbery on 28 December 2012.
Weilbach said Martin Lebea (35), Adam Sello Baloyi (39) and Sonnyboy Mbambo (41) all from Tembisa, were arrested two days after they committed the crime and appeared in court for the first time on 31 December 2012.
The men were found guilty on a robbery and theft of motor vehicle charges. They were also declared unfit to possess a firearm.
The trio committed their crime just before midnight in Perseus Avenue, Waterkloof Ridge. They overpowered a 41-year-old homeowner when he opened the front door to let his dog out.
The robbers were armed and tied up the man and two others with cable ties. The men ransacked the house and loaded all the stolen items into the homeowner’s vehicle. The vehicle was later recovered in Tembisa.
Also read:
Three robbery victims in the east want answers from police
Court hears of psychiatric ward hell
Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites:
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram.
