Incidents of theft out of motor vehicles are on the rise in and around Joburg and Bedfordview is no exception.
More and more people fall victim to this crime on a daily basis. And it is infuriating, right?
As a community journalist I am in the community every day and I have the opportunity to communicate tips from the police to members of the public.
More often than not I witness people parking their cars, walking a few metres and only then pressing the lock buttons on their remote controls.
Every chance they get, police advise motorists on how they can avoid falling victims to the crime, but for some, these warnings fall on deaf ears.
I think at times that we are making it easy for criminals to get hold of our hard-earned goods and money.
I have lost count of the number stories I have written, warning people to verify that their cars are locked before stepping away.
It should be public knowledge by now that if you press your lock button on your car’s remote while the motorist parked next to you is pressing theirs, your remote will jam and your car will not lock.
I hope this will make you realise that the first step to safety starts with you exercising caution every time you park your car.
As much as I agree that a lot can be done by the powers that be to fight crime, government will not come down and lock your car for you.
I joined police officers on an operation sometime in December last year. A woman had stopped to get food at a filling station along Van Buuren Road. When she went back to her car one of the officers advised her not to put her handbag behind her seat but in the boot.
Her response stunned me. “That’s why we have the smash and grab film. To stop criminals from breaking the windows”.
It is because of this mentality that our people are on Facebook on a daily basis posting pictures of how they were attacked while stopping at robots and had their expensive jewellery taken.
Can we all just wake up?
Take responsibility. If your beautiful handbag worth over R20 000 is on the passenger seat of your German SUV, I am almost certain that even a criminal in training will take his chance.
With that said, I have hope that one day, crime fighting will be become one of government’s priorities so people can feel safe in a crime-free environment.
