The station has seen an increase of 14 cases compared to the previous year, in the statistics issued for the year April 2015 to March 2016.
Col Martin van Nieuwenhuizen, head of Vispol policing at the Benoni Police Station, explained the latest statistics for the Benoni Police Station.
He said illegal mining activities led to the increase in murder cases.
“Illegal mining is a problem and it’s not easily containable, but we have done well in restraining it; a lot of arrests were made,” said van Nieuwenhuizen.
The stats were recorded from April 2014 to March 2015 (previous year) and April 2015 to March 2016.
•Carjacking
2014/15: (62) – 2015/16: (71)
Van Nieuwenhuizen said carjacking was a problem in the previous year, and is not confined to one specific area in Benoni.
•Assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
2014/15: (325) – 2015/16: (330)
“During the previous financial year there were a lot of liquor-related crimes, especially in Lindelani and Kingsway, which are also related to illegal mining,” said van Nieuwenhuizen.
•Robbery at non-residential premises
2014/15: (88) – 2015/2016: (95)
He said those were mainly businesses in Lindelani and Kingsway.
•Robbery at residential premises
2014/15: (119) – 2015/2016 (88)
Van Nieuwenhuizen said this is a massive decrease. It’s a good indication of the groundwork by police officers. He said police are out on the streets and good arrests are being made.
Van Nieuwenhuizen added that he’s positive that the 2016/2017 statistics will reveal an improvement.
“This is not only police effort; we have the EMPD, CPF and security companies that bring in a lot of impact,” he said.
“We have patrollers during the day and night, and we all work in one patrolling point; it’s community policing in practice.”
Also read: Five arrested and no-one injured after Golden Drive shoot-out
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