Residents keep falling victim to the same old crimes, said two Community Policing Forum Chairpersons.
“We keep telling the public to stop putting handbags [and] briefcases on [vehicle] passenger seats, but they keep doing so, and yet are highly indignant when a criminal decides to help himself to the public’s belongings,” said Sandy Andrew, chairperson of the Randburg forum.
“The public are also in the habit of leaving windows open, not checking if their alarms are working on a regular basis, not looking around when they stop at their gates before opening them, leaving items such as bicycles outside overnight, leaving home without checking that their driveway gates have closed fully [and] not reporting suspicious-looking vehicles or loiterers in their area.”
She also said that residents should know their neighbours, because they would notice if suspicious people or vehicles appeared at their homes.
Greg Pearce, chairperson of the Honeydew Sector 1 forum, gave a similar message.
“We want to remind the community that one of the main targets is the driveway,” he said.
“People must try stopping parallel to the gate [before opening the gate]. Regarding housebreaking, residents must please set alarms and check that their main gate cannot be lifted.”
He also said that residents must be aware that they are vulnerable when opening or closing garage doors.
Details: Randburg Community Policing Forum 082 433 6085; Randburg police 011 449 9000; Honeydew Sector 1 Community Policing Forum 011 801 8576; Honeydew police 011 801 8613.
