Residents will be pleased to know that there has been a drop in criminal activity within the area over the festive period and this is all thanks to visible policing, working together with CPF and local security companies.
“We are very fortunate that our crime rate has come down. I think this is because of the strategies we had put in place and applied,” said Lieut-Col Kawa Karelse of the Secunda Police.
He said the preparation of combating crime over the festive season began in November last year.
There has been a decline in housebreakings, burglaries and business robberies by 45 per cent in comparison to previous years, according to Lieut-Col Karelse.
In November 2021 several good arrests had been made and Lieut-Col Karelse said that with the perpetrators caught and behind bars, it takes out a small percentage of criminal elements.
“Most of the housebreakings are done by drug users and foreign nationals,” said Lieut-Col Karelse. He said items stolen are almost always TV’s and items easy to get their hands on such as laptops, cellphones, and sound systems.
He said the biggest concern is when homeowners leave doors, windows and security gates open all hours of the day. This creates a perfect opportunity for a home invasion.
He also said that homeowners need to make their domestic employees more aware not to leave doors or security gates open when they are busy with their duties.
“Perpetrators walk around in our neighbourhoods and monitor all movements in and out of one’s home. These are incidents happening not only at night but also during the day. If the chance is there, the perpetrator will grab it,” said Lieut-Col Karelse.
Contact crimes such as murder and assault have also seen a decrease by 16 per cent during the festive season compared to previous years.
“The tendency in the past used to be assault charges coming from liquor premises but it is no longer like that. Contact crimes are now more family-related or domestic-related and even among employees in a workplace,” said Lieut-Col Karelse.
He went on to say that assault charges stay on a person’s record, even a common assault.
“Our younger generation doesn’t realise that this can affect their effort in finding work, studying or working abroad with an assault charge on record.”
Concerns have been raised over the increase in fraud cases.
One such case is of victims who were looking to buy vehicles found on social media platforms at a “bargain” price.
“In some cases, the victim will pay over a deposit to secure the sale, only to find that when the time comes to collect the vehicle, the address and vehicle do not exist.
“Before making any transfer of money, go and see the item you wish to purchase first, even if it costs you more, it could prevent you from losing thousands.”
Other fraud cases that have seen an increase are criminals acting as bank employees informing account holders of fraudulent activity on their bank account.
In many cases, this leaves the victim divulging banking details only to find out later that all their money had been withdrawn from their account.
“Banks will never ask you for your PIN. If you are not sure or hesitant, rather make a turn at your bank and enquire with them directly.
“Do not under any circumstance divulge your banking details to anyone over the phone, even if they are insistent they are calling you from your bank.”
The all so famous airtime scams are still doing their rounds and have seen many victims falling prey.
“Be careful. Do your research first before handing over any money,” said Lieut-Col Karelse.
Although there has been a drop in the crime rate in the area, Lieut-Col Karelse said that the latest criminal trend is steeling of gate motors.
“Initially we thought that the gate motors are being stolen to gain easier access into properties, but this is not the case. The gate motors are being stolen to be resold,” said Col Karelse.
He said homeowners need to make sure that gate motors are properly bracketed and padlocked, making it harder for criminals to remove them.
He said that most of these cases happened at night.
Visible policing has helped a lot in the curbing of crime.
“We have a good relationship with our CPF, AfriForum and security companies. Security companies have been assisting us a lot,” said Lieut-Col Karelse.
Nine people were arrested for drugs in December.
