UMBILO CPF hosted a public meeting on Thursday, 18 August, at Glenwood Presbyterian Church, where residents were informed of the local crime trends in the two sectors, and what is being done to fight crime in the area.
Thabo Kadikadi, chairperson of the Umbilo CPF, said he was pleased by the turnout of residents and encouraged them to attend the monthly meetings going forward. He introduced the new ward 33 councillor, Mmabatho Tembe, who said she was very excited about working in the ward and looked forward to attending future meetings.
At the meeting, Tony Blaunfeldt, additional member of the CPF, said the area covered by the CPF was around 20 square kilometers in which 140 000 people resided. He siad this was the biggest policing area in Durban, and thanked the neighbourhood watches in the area for their hard work, which they carried out their own time and at their own cost.
Sgt Quinton Rodie, sector manager of Sector 2, said he had been involved in sector policing since 2004, and worked on profiling crime trends, times, dates, hotspots and which crimes were frequent in the area.
“The relationship between the police and the community as well as the Glenmore/Umbilo Neighbourhood Watch in the area, under Wally Coombe, is very good, and the group has the interests of the community at heart. I commend their commitment. The battle would be so much worse if it was not for the community which is the eyes and ears of the police and forms part of proactive policing. We encourage the community to report all crimes, no matter how trivial they seem as this shows criminals the cooperation of the community,” he said.
Rodie said there had been an increase in what he called non-policeable crimes in the sector in July, such as housebreaking, theft out of motor vehicles, robbery with firearms, especially at the Rossburgh Bridge and malicious damage to property, which was related to protest action. He said there had been 10 arrests in the sector for various offences in July.
“We endeavour to bring the crime down in the sector, and therefore the relationship between the police and the community is so important,” he said.
W/O Desmond Panayan from crime intelligence addressed Sector 1, which is the area from Rick Turner Road to King Dinuzulu Road.
“There is an influx of around one million people to the area in a day and 70 per cent of the crime is in this sector,” he said.
Panayan said problematic areas were around the hospitals where motor vehicle crime occurred, in Evans and Edmonds Roads, where garages were being broken into, the Hunt, Che Guevara and King Dinuzulu Road areas where there was a lot of robbery, muggings and theft of motor vehicles. He said there were reports of remote jammings in King Dinuzulu Road and the vibrant Berea Centre area was conducive to crime. Smash and grabs and theft at the intersection of King Dinuzulu and Cleaver Roads were also problems because of the amount of traffic in the roads.
“Don’t be under the misconception that you are safe if you are living in a flat. Housebreaking is relatively high and break-ins are now happening from around 3am to 6am when people are sleeping. Jewellery and cellphones left on bedside tables are being taken. Do not leave windows open at night and don’t leave valuables in the car, as theft out of motor vehicle is out of control. Residents need to be proactive as the police can’t be everywhere. We need you to be the eyes and ears for the police.”
