BLUE Security’s analysis of its reported festive crime trends shows a huge drop in in the number of incidents reported across Durban during the holiday season.
Operations director Brian Jackson said the firm’s analysis of crime statistics showed an overall average 37 per cent decline in the number of crime and other incidents such as vehicle accidents and deaths due to suicide and medical conditions reported to the company.
The study covered the period during the build-up to the festive season from 1 December to 7 January, compared to the same period in 2017/18.
According to the study, crimes that showed the highest decrease included business armed robbery (95 per cent), residential armed robbery (92 per cent), assault (77 per cent), hijacking (50 per cent), attempted business burglary (57 per cent), and attempted residential housebreaking (39 per cent).
Jackson added that other crimes that showed a decrease included residential housebreaking (five per cent), business burglary (eight per cent) and theft of motor vehicle which declined by 17 per cent. Incidents of vandalism increased by 41 per cent, trespassing by 33 per cent and the number of shootings doubled.
ALSO READ: Unlicenced firearms recovered
“While it is good news that serious crimes such as armed robbery and hijacking dropped during the period it is a concern that incidents of vandalism, trespassing and shootings showed an increase. It is important to note that these statistics include only those crime incidents reported to our company for the period which covers just around five weeks,” Jackson said.
According to the crime report, most crimes took place in the early hours of the morning, between 2am and 6am, and in the evenings, between 6pm and 8pm, while there were also a substantial number of incidents that took place between 10am and 3pm.
Do you want to receive news alerts via WhatsApp? Send us a WhatsApp message (not an sms) with your name and surname to 060 532 5535.
You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have signed up for our news alerts you need to save the Berea Mail WhatsApp number as a contact to your phone, otherwise you will not receive our alerts
