Honeydew Community Policing Forum Sector 1 members held their monthly meeting on 12 November.
The meeting aimed to engage the police, security companies and community members in a forum to discuss criminal and security issues in the area and find solutions to them.
At the meeting, Sector 1 manager Sergeant Kgomotso Mogatusi gave a statistical breakdown of the increases and decreases in crime, crime hotspots, and common times they occur.
According to Mogatusi, contact crimes, attempted murder, car hijacking, residential burglary and property related crimes have increased within the sector.
Common robberies, robbery with firearms, sexual offences, assault, and theft of motor vehicles have decreased in the sector.
Attempted rape and truck hijacking have had no statistical change.
Hotspot areas for house robberies in Sector 1 include Randpark Ridge, Sundowner, Duiker Ridge, North Riding.
Common robbery hotspots include Boskruin, North Riding and Randpark Ridge.
Business robberies commonly occur in Randpark Ridge and Northwold.
The popular days for house robberies are Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and between midnight and 4am, as well as at 8am, with business robberies tending to occur between 4pm and 8pm.
Hotspots for theft from motor vehicles include Randpark Ridge, Northgate and North Riding. Vehicle hijacking and theft from motor vehicles commonly occur on a Monday and Tuesday during peak travelling hours.
Vehicle theft commonly takes place on a Saturday and Monday between 8pm and midnight.
Chairperson of the CPF for sector 1 Stewart Birrell said, “The Honeydew police have an uphill battle against crime in Zandspruit and Cosmo City, and sometimes there are not enough vehicles to patrol the area. There are, however, plans within the operational planning of the Johannesburg West Cluster to rectify this issue in the near future.”
The CPF discussed the Johannesburg Policing West Cluster’s plan to curb crime during the festive season.
The plan will analyse statistics such as those given at the CPF meeting, and see how crime can be better fought in hotspot areas by deploying more officers to them.
Operations will take place to target aggravated robberies, the proliferation of illegal firearms and special crime-awareness and prevention operations.
It would also prioritise cases involving women, children and other vulnerable groups, and enforce by-laws and road-safety regulations.
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