CHAIRMAN of the Durban North/Umhlanga CPF, Haden Searles, says there could be between two or three gangs targeting the La Lucia area. He was commenting after a spike in the number of crimes affecting La Lucia. On Wednesday two homes were robbed by a gang of eight men just an hour apart.
The incidents followed an assault and robbery of a La Lucia couple on Homeford Drive. There have been 10 incidents in La Lucia since the beginning of October.
Last month, armed suspects opened fire on an armed reaction officer at a William Campbell Drive home.
Searles said he believed police were doing everything they could to stem the tide of criminal activity.
“Police are doing the best they can with limited resources. On a daily basis we have two stop and searches which is part of our visible policing initiative. We also have two roadblocks a day as well as a cordon-and-search operation a week. On Thursday, we also had a roadblock in La Lucia. There are operations planned on a daily basis. The claim that ‘police are doing nothing’ couldn’t be further from the truth.
“At the moment we believe there may be two or three gangs robbing homes in the area. Because we are such a porous area, the suspects are able to make use of one of many escape routes. I urge residents to join the CPF as they have access to crime stats on a monthly basis, which shows the area of concern and what more could be done,” he said.
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