Crime decreased in Bedfordview – Bedfordview SAPS

Crime in the Bedfordview area has declined.

This, despite the murder of Mr Bassam Issa, a Lebanese national who was murdered on October 12 and the Money Point bombing, which killed two people and left five others injured on November 12.

This is according the Bedfordview SAPS station commander, Colonel Nedik Sambo.

“The level of crime in Bedfordview has decreased overall. The decrease was attributed to working together with the community and stake holders such as the community police forum. We have not experienced crime like the Sam Issa murder and the Money Point bombing previously. While these crimes have shaken the Bedfordview community, the provincial office will be dealing with organised crime in the area. We hope that organised crime will decrease this way,” said Col Sambo.

“We had initiatives during 2013 to engage with community members and this has been a good source of getting information from the public, especially regarding their concerns. Some of the initiatives we established are the domestic workers forum, the sector police forums and the community police forum. This has improved community participation and reduced crime, and this has helped improve the trust between the Bedfordview SAPS and the community,” said Col Sambo.

“The most concerning crimes were priority crimes, which included house robberies, hijackings and business burglaries. We have intensified the investigation in priority crimes by establishing a group of detectives that will be dealing specifically with these cases for this year,” added Col Sambo.

Col Sambo also reiterated the need for improvement in terms of the number of arrests that have been made following crimes.

“We need to improve the number of arrests that have been made by refining the informer network and ensuring that every stakeholder consults and communicates effectively between the community, SAPS and Metro Police. The station will also analyse the crimes that took place in 2013 with the goal of formulating ideas to strengthen our weaknesses. We will analyse the various crimes, come up with resolutions and take it from there,” said Col Sambo.

“Looking to 2014, our goal for this year is to decrease crime, improve the investigation of suspects and increasing convictions. We still need the community to be the eyes and ears of the Bedfordview SAPS in 2014 so that we can deal with crime more effectively.

“We are also aiming at recruiting more reservists in 2014 to better improve our manpower in fighting crime. In 2014, Bedfordview residents can look forward to better cooperation and service from the SAPS. Our response time improved in 2013 and this year we intend on improving it more,” said Col Sambo.

“I would like to thank the staff at the Bedfordview SAPS and the cooperation they have provided.

“I would like to thank the community police forum for its involvement in crime prevention because they have volunteered to work with the police and this has helped the community. Lastly, I thank the domestic workers forum, the sector forums and other departments such as the Metro Police for the support over the previous year, we must continue to work together in order to keep Bedfordview safe,” said Col Sambo.