Security company, Fidelity ADT has urged Midrand homeowners to remain vigilant and report crime, particularly as the end of the year approaches.
Danny Maringa, community development manager for Fidelity ADT said, “Following incidents of house robberies and break-ins in the Midrand area, since September 2021, there have been 14 house break-ins around Glen Austin, President Park, Noordwyk, Chloorkop and Glenferness, seven of these incidents happened in Glen Austin.”
Maringa claimed, “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.
“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. 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.”
Maringa revealed, “In our experience, we have found that security measures like electric fences, detection beams and closed-circuit television (CCTV) are still key deterrents to crime, as are pets. For homeowners, small dogs that sleep inside the house are seen as a deterrent. How secure your neighbourhood is, is also a meaningful factor. If robbers are scouting carefully, they will view regular patrol and a strong neighbourhood watch system as a good reason to move on.”
He stated that it is equally important that domestic staff always keep security gates on doors locked – they may not hear an intruder over the noise of the vacuum.
Midrand Police Station spokesperson Constable Eliot Mabulane said, according to reported incidents, there has not been an increase in reported house break-ins and theft in recent months. “Property crime in October has been lower compared to previous months and police have done their best to prevent crime, burglary and robbery have declined.”
