Theft of motor vehicles and residential robberies remain a problem in the east

The east of Pretoria remains plagued by motor vehicle theft, according to the latest national crime stats and local security companies.

Security services monitoring Erusmuskloof, Garsfontein, Moreleta Park, Lynnwood, Brooklyn and Waterkloof pointed out that Toyota Hilux bakkies, Fortuners and Prados have been targeted in recent months, while crime stats further indicated that robbery at residential and business properties and common robberies showed no sign of decreasing.

The third quarter crime stats reflect the differences in the number of crimes reported from October to December 2022 compared to same period last year.

Among the six police stations in Pretoria east, Garsfontein and Brooklyn remain the most troubled by motor vehicle theft and robbery.

Brooklyn has seen a 4.6% increase in property crimes.

Motor vehicle theft increased by 18% from October –December 2023 at 164 cases registered from the 139 of the same period in 2022.

The area remains among the top-30 in the country plagued by car hijacking.

According to the crime stats, Brooklyn ranked 29th nationally out of over 1 000 police precincts on 17 serious community reported crimes.

The area recorded 1 622 cases in the category in December 2023, up from the 1 487 of the same period in 2022.

It further recorded a 24% increase in common assault cases.

Brooklyn also reported a high number of burglaries at residential and non-residential premises.

Residential burglaries increased by 2.1% to 99 cases from the 97 in the same period in 2022.

Garsfontein

The Garsfontein station has seen a sharp increase in motor vehicle theft, car hijacking, robberies at residential areas and robberies with aggravating circumstances.

The station recorded an increase in car hijackings by two in 2023 to four active cases from the two in 2022.

The station has seen a 12% increase in theft of motor vehicles from October to December 2023, with 88 active cases from the 78 of the same period in 2022.

Bull Security spokesperson French Jooste shared similar observations as reflected in the stats released by the police.

Jooste said there is definitely a spike in overall crime to date.

“We are monitoring so many community groups and every day community members are sending through CCTV footage or incidents that occurred in their streets or area.”

Jooste said motor vehicle theft is really a very big concern at this moment.

“Toyota Hilux bakkies, Toyota Fortuners, Toyota Prados are targeted.”

He said bicycle theft is also a massive headache, especially in the east.

Jooste said business robberies are picking up.

“We noted that more business break-ins occur, but overall, residential is our biggest headache. The new trend now is the criminals steal the outside beams from the wall, jump over, rip the beam off and make a run.”

He said the security companies regularly patrol and make themselves visible, especially during the night and the early hours of the morning.

“We advise residents to have a look at AI cameras that only work on positive human movement monitored by our control centre. This helps a lot. Once we receive a signal our control centre can immediately react and send vehicles to the residence with a live eye on site view from the control centre.”

Dana Bloem, CEO of CSI Security, said vehicle theft is still a huge issue.

He said cameras help, as they are AI monitored, picking up human and vehicle movement, allowing residents to notify the authority timeously.

Bloem warned east residents to also be wary of Uber robberies.

“Make sure the driver details are100% correct and share your live location with friends and family.”

Silverton:

Murder in the precinct increased by three to nine cases from the six in 2022.

Car hijackings in Silverton decreased by six from 32 incidents registered in the same period last year, while robberies at residential premises decreased by one to 13 cases from the 14 in 2022 in the same period.

Bull Security offered these safety tips for residents:

– Report any suspicious vehicle and activity in your area to your security company

– Always make sure that your garden tools are locked away

– Make sure that your bicycles are locked away and out of sight

– Very important that your gate motor is equipped with a lock bracket

– Make sure that your gate is equipped with an anti-lift bracket

– Make sure that your electric fence is in a good working condition and very important, that it is linked to your alarm system

– Make sure that you have sufficient lighting installed outside your home, criminals prefer to operate in the dark

– If you have big dogs, make sure that they sleep inside the house as there has been an increase in dog poisonings

– Make sure that all the children in the house know the necessary emergency telephone numbers

– At night, when you suspect something is wrong outside, do not go out, rather inform your security company to investigate

ALSO READ:  Crime stats: Robberies, hijackings show serious increase in Mams

Do you have more information about the story?

Please send us an email to bennittb@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.

For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East

For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram