National SAPS stated it has noted the increase in the number of robberies reportedly committed by people wearing police uniforms and/or using vehicles fitted with blue lights.
Authorities said in some instances, business people travelling with cash are being robbed while on their way to or from the bank. In other instances, people are being followed and then robbed while travelling from the airport to their destinations.
Authorities have established there are various groups which collude with hotel staff, meter taxi drivers and police officers.
Police officers were found to be directly involved, or had supplied items such as uniforms, blue lights or firearms.
The NEWS has reported on numerous crimes involving what was believed to be bogus cops over the past year.
It was also previously reported that police imposters were the contributing factor to the increase in hijackings reported in Edenvale.
A motorist was hijacked by men claiming to be police officers in Eastleigh a few months ago.
In March this year, a man was allegedly robbed by bogus cops while driving on the R24 in Bedfordview.
The Bedfordview SAPS corporate communications officer, Sergeant Mduduzi Nhlabathi, said the man was instructed to pull over by another motorist who showed him a police badge.
When he stopped, the ‘policemen’ went to him and searched his car. They took an undisclosed amount of money, a television set, cellular phones and other items.
Bogus cops also robbed the driver of a Mercedes Benz in Germiston Road, Meadowdale, on March 3.
The driver of a car flashed the vehicle’s lights at the motorist. The criminals stopped in front of the man’s vehicle, forcing him to stop.
The three occupants of the vehicle, in possession of police badges, took the man’s bags and fled.
Also reported in the Bedfordview and Edenvale NEWS was an incident in which seven heavily armed men, dressed in civilian clothes with some sporting police caps, robbed a house in Palliser Road, Eastleigh.
The men, armed with semi-automatic rifles and handguns, broke open the front gate to the property before holding the family up at gunpoint.
The men fled with only cellular phones because of the fast response from a security company’s reaction officer.
Police also arrested six people, three of which were found in Troyeville, believed to be members of the blue light gang last year.
Last week, the SAPS’ national commissioner, General Riah Phiyega said, “These robberies, the modus operandi in particular, is of huge concern for me. I have set up a multi-disciplinary team comprising detectives, visible policing, crime intelligence as well as a retired detective, under the leadership of the divisional commissioner of detectives, Lieutenant-General Vineshkumar Moonoo. Thus far, there are about 250 dockets which are being followed up.”
Detectives are interacting with victims and analysing cases to get a better understanding of the modus operandi and the people possibly involved.
It was established that the majority of these incidents happen at night in poorly lit areas. People who find themselves stopped by a private vehicle fitted with blue lights are advised to slow down, continue driving to a well-lit area or to the nearest police station.
Authorities are in the process of amending the SAPS Act to include new regulations to guide the possession and utilisation of blue lights.
The use of blue lights is managed under the National Road Traffic Act, 1996 (Act No. 93 of 1996). If motorists are found in possession of any law enforcement paraphernalia they can be charged with impersonating a police officer.
