POLICE Minister Fikile Mbalula says the “chopping-and-changing” of leadership from General Bheki Cele to Riah Phiyega, to acting heads in the police department, has affected the focus of police.
Mbalula, who released the 2016/2017 crime statistics on Tuesday said despite the general 1.8% decrease in crime during the 2016/17 financial year, violent crime is still a big problem.
The Berea Mail zoomed closer into the numbers, to check criminal trends in the community and the overall performance of the police stations.
The police-recorded crime statistics are derived from an administrative data collection process.
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All crimes are recorded as and when they are brought to the attention, or detected by police, irrespective of when the crimes were committed.
In this crime report the statistics represent the number of crime charges or counts and not the number of registered case dockets.
Despite, Durban Central Police Station featuring in the national top 30 police stations, in the category of serious crimes, cases of sexual offences have been significantly reduced.
In 2007 there were zero cases of sexual offence, however, the following year 2008, they skyrocketed with more than one thousand cases being reported.
Last year less than 100 cases were recorded. Robbery with aggravating circumstances, on the other hand has risen, with 82 cases reported since last year. The biggest concern has been drugs in the area, with over one thousand drug related cases reported.
Both Umbilo and Berea Police Station are ranked in the top 20 nationally for incidents of carjacking which show a marked increased. In the Berea, more than 700 cases of theft of vehicles and motorbikes were recorded since between April 2016 and March 2017. Robbery at residential premises as well as non-residential areas also increased. Despite the station servicing one of the most busiest areas for entertainment venues, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs showed a significant decrease.
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From April 2007 to March 2008, no sexual offences (rape, sexual assault, attempted sexual offence, contact sexual offence) were recorded at Umbilo SAPS, however between 2009 and 2010 the station recorded its highest number of incidents to date with 162 cases. The numbers dropped from 2012 from 66 recorded cases to 39 in the latest stats for the 2016/17 year.
There has been an increase in robbery, hijacking, cash in transit, residential premises robbery, non-residential premises robbery, but zero stock theft cases have been reported for almost ten years. Since last year March, to April this year, there were 18 murders.
In the past four years, rape and serious crimes cases increased at the Point Police station. There were 200 cases of theft of vehicles and motorbike recorded since last April to March this year. Assault with the intent to inflict bodily harm decreased from 152 to 146 cases.
According to recorded rape statistics, the province of KwaZulu-Natal is the rape capital,with 309 incidents being recorded at Inanda police station over the 2016/2017 period.
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