THERE is not much to write home about for Umbilo and Berea police station following the release of the crime statistics.
For Umbilo, crucial sections of crime have increased including murder, sexual offenses, car jacking, assault with intent for grievous bodily harm, robbery with aggravating circumstances and driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
On the upside, burglary at residential and non-residential premises has significantly decreased from last year.
The crime statistics are calculated from 1 April 2019 to 1 March 2020, so they exclude the period when the country went into lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Heather Roos, chairperson of the Umbilo Community Policing Forum, said the statistics are worrying especially considering there’s many that are unaccounted for because they do not get reported.
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“I certainly think we have to get it through to victims to please report all crime, regardless of how insignificant they may think it is. Too often people just do not want to take the time to report, so criminals get away with these crimes and continue,” she said.
Captain Pumzile Makaula of Umbilo Police Station said she was encouraged by the statistics and called on greater relations between police and CPFs to combat crime.
“What we achieved was done through working together with the community and the CPFs. We would like to call on everyone to join and assist us in keeping our community safe and in our fight against crime,” she said.
Meanwhile, contact crimes in Berea are up by 34 per cent compared to last year, with robbery being the most common crime.
Carjacking increased 46 per cent in Berea while robberies at residential and non-residential premises decreased by 36 per cent and six per cent respectively.
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At the time of going to press, the contents of this feature mirrored South Africa’s lockdown regulations.
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