A crime stat is only a crime stat once it has been reported to the SAPS. Newspapers and social media channels are full of reports of ATM fraud, cell phones being snatched and other opportunistic crimes and yet only a small percentage of these crimes are actually reported.
“A large number of crimes simply go unreported because of the nature of the crime or because of a lack of confidence in the system,” says Charnel Hattingh (national marketing and communications manager) of Fidelity ADT. Hattingh says selective reporting of crime is problematic as it contributes to the dissemination of misinformation around crime, rather than accurate and contextualised information which the SAPS and private security companies can then work on to apprehend suspects.
Both Heidelberg and Nigel’s Police Station representatives confirmed this. Sergeant Nellie Dwaba (spokesperson) of Nigel SAPS said reporting a crime is of great importance as the police do not automatically investigate crime incidents. It is furthermore important to report crime for accurate crime statistics, which gives the SAPS more leverage to request extra police officers and vehicles.
Colonel Amanda Viljoen (commander) of Heidelberg Police Station says Heidelberg’s community is very involved in taking hands with the SAPS in apprehending crime. “A few years back, we also had the problem of the public not reporting cases, but through sensitising in the HERAUT on various occasions about reporting incidents (no matter how small) our community now does report incidents. The police however, urges the public not to withdraw cases after reporting it. We often have people who report a case, only to withdraw it a day later. This leaves police powerless to act,” Colonel Viljoen added.
A good example of Heidelberg’s community working with police is the apprehension of a suspect after he was caught red-handed while trying to break into a residential property in Viljoen Street on January 26. “The suspect was cornered by the community and after police arrested him, they found that he is a previous convicted burglar,” Colonel Viljoen said.
“No matter how big or small or how insignificant you feel the crime is, it needs to be reported. If the suspects are apprehended at a later date, there is often no charge as there has been no complainant or case number to attach it to,” Hattingh continued.
There are seven key reasons to report crime. It helps with establishing crime trends and provides authorities with invaluable information on how to best allocate resources.
If a stolen vehicle’s registration is reported immediately, the SAPS can start tracking the vehicle and carry out stop and search intercepts. It helps in understanding both motive and modus perandi of the crime and how crime prevention strategies are being deployed.
It also ensures that suspects can be sent to jail once they have been finally apprehended – without a complainant and case number, there is no case.
It helps the community to better understand and respond to safety issues and it can lead to more arrests as your crime could be a critical link to another similar crime and could result in an arrest.
The SAPS say many people who get their cell phones snatched, forget to report the crime at a later stage. “Understandably you do not want to get stranded on the side of the road without a phone so you go home. That is fine, but you need to report the incident once you are safe and in possession of another phone or go to the police station with a friend,” Hattingh continued.
“A community approach to fighting crime is essential and always pays dividends leading to safer communities. It starts with a commitment from residents to report crimes accurately and a follow up commitment from SAPS and other influencers in the sector, like the private security industry, to follow up on all leads and react proactively to trends and incidents to reduce crime levels,” Hattingh concluded.
