Police urge residents to report all crimes

POLOKWANE – Only when a criminal case is opened, can the police act by arresting a suspect and gathering enough evidence that will ensure the offender is prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Residents in the Westenburg policing area claim that the police do not arrest suspects, and that is why there are so many house robberies in the area, but the police claim that house robbery incidents in their policing area have decreased and the reasons suspects are not caught is because residents neglect to open cases.

Police officials who spoke to Review on condition of anonymity said: “we have a big problem, especially in Westenburg, where people do not want to open cases and it makes our work very difficult. We can only arrest a suspect when a case is opened. In Westenburg, everyone knows everyone, and the suspects live in the community and are known to the people, but they refuse to talk and remain silent when the police follow up on crimes. Without opening a case, the residents expect us to arrest the alleged suspect, and if we don’t they get angry, but how can we arrest someone if there is no complainant or a case that was opened?”

Review investigated the police officials’ claims and found that eight out of 10 people were victims of house robberies, but because their stolen property was returned and they knew the suspects and their families, they did not open a case.

“What’s the use of reporting a case if at the end of the day the person will be arrested and a few days later be released on bail. The case also takes forever to be finalised in court, so it is just a waste of time to report a crime, especially when you get your stolen goods back. Yes, we know who the troublemakers are in our area, but if a person had to report these boys, there will be a war in Westenburg because parents protect their children even though they know what their children are doing is wrong,” a resident said.

Another resident said there was a house robbery in Nagel Street recently.

“At the back of the main house, there are rooms that the homeowner rents out and the robbery took place in one of these rooms. The person who broke into the room is known to the community, but the matter was not reported to the police, because the stolen goods were returned to the owner. Everyone was complaining about the suspect not being arrested, but no one was willing to open a case at the police station,” the resident explained.

Col Ronél Otto, a provincial police spokesperson, said it was very important that a crime was reported to the police, no matter if the suspect was known or not or whether the stolen goods were found or not.

“When a case is reported, the police can identify a pattern of crimes in that area. We can then shift our crime prevention focus to that area. If a case is not reported, the police will not be aware of the problem in that area and we will not be able to prosecute suspects. No matter if a suspect is known or not, still report the crime. The police will investigate the matter and an arrest will follow with evidence collected. We have had a number of successful arrests, even though the suspect was not known at first. Through our investigations, we are able to identify certain things that can link the suspect to a crime scene and he or she will be apprehended,” Otto said.