Dramatic decrease in crime between April and June in Diepsloot and Douglasdale

The crime statistics for the three-month period from April to June 2020 revealed dramatic decreases in crimes in the areas of Douglasdale and Diepsloot.

Douglasdale

The total contact crimes in Douglasdale decreased by 52.3 per cent with dramatically reduced numbers in instances of robbery with aggravating circumstances (from 143 to 43 cases) and common assault (from 127 to 58 cases).

However, attempted murder cases saw an increase from three cases over the same period in 2019 to nine cases this year.

Reported sexual offences also saw a decline of 36.8 per cent, however, rape incidents had increased slightly from nine cases last year to 10 during the same period this year.

The Douglasdale Police Station also reported no cases of bank robbery, robbery of cash-in-transit or truck hijacking over the April to June period this year.

Carjacking decreased by 66.7 per cent, robbery at residential premises decreased by 77.8 per cent and robbery at non-residential premises decreased by 80 per cent.

There were also no cases of arson and a 22.8 per cent decrease in malicious damage to property incidents.

Property-related crimes such as burglaries, theft of motor vehicle or motorcycle and theft out of motor vehicle also saw an overall decrease of 69.9 per cent.

Other serious crimes such as commercial crime and shoplifting also saw a dramatic decrease.

Crime detected as a result of police action was poor, however, with only 20 crimes detected during this period as a result of police action as opposed to 153 during the same period the previous year.

Diepsloot

The Diepsloot policing precinct saw a 32.5 per cent decline in contact crimes with a 69 per cent decrease in murders from 29 the previous year to nine over the period of assessment in 2020. Common robberies also saw a serious decline of 51.5 per cent.

Reported instances of sexual offences also decreased by 35.9 per cent.

Carjacking decreased by 61.5 per cent, robberies at residential premises decreased by 7.4 per cent and robberies at non-residential premises decreased by 70.4 per cent.

Property-related crimes including burglaries, theft of motor vehicles and motorcycles also decreased by 21.1 per cent.

Commercial crime did, however, see a slight increase from 34 incidents over the allotted period in 2019 to 36 incidents this year. Shoplifting, however, decreased by 18.2 per cent.

Police were able to make a dent into incidents of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition with a 400 per cent increase in this category of crime detected as a result of police action. More drug-related crimes were also identified by police, however, there were few incidents of people driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs identified by police between April and June this year.

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