While it was unusual to hold a community meeting in the dark, there was light shed on police and community issues and a shocking revelation.
Honeydew Police, sector 2 residents and security companies didn’t let a power outage hamper them and held their public meeting on Panorama Primary School’s garden as scheduled on 25 February.
Next time, think twice before complaining about receiving no feedback or not seeing any developments in a case that you opened at Honeydew Police Station. It turns out the station is understaffed and has a shortage of detectives. At the moment, one detective receives 130 dockets whereas under normal circumstances should only be handling 30 dockets a month.
Spokesperson for Honeydew Police, Warrant Officer Karen Jacobs said the meeting was a way of involving the community in the fight against crime in their area. “Your involvement is very vital,” she said.
Police shared their crime overview of problematic criminal offences in the suburbs and crime hot spots were discussed.
They said most crimes committed in Weltevreden Park and Hillfox were business premises burglaries, with most occurring between 6pm and 6am on Fridays and over weekends.
Allens Nek experienced a number of burglaries at residences between Tuesdays and Thursday from 8pm until midnight, and between 6am and 6pm. Some contributing factors to the increase in these crimes were security issues such as no burglar bars or sliding doors not being properly secured, and neighbours unaware of each other’s whereabouts.
Police also mentioned an increase in reported assaults, they attributed this to road rage incidents, domestic violence and alcohol abuse.
Theft out of motor vehicles– which is on the increase due to car jammings – was also a problem in most suburbs including Constantia Kloof.
“This happens when community members leave their cars on the street or driveway; unsupervised parking areas at shopping centre; and valuables left in plain site,” said Jacobs.
She didn’t ruled out the possibility of false claims.
Chairperson of Sector 2 Community Policing Forum, Neville Burnette complained about how few residents attend the meeting, but speculated that the power outage probably contributed to the poor turnout.
He also expressed his dissatisfaction with Honeydew Police’s presentation. “They should tell us what they will do to fight crime to bring the stats down, not tell us about the crime stats.”
Suburbs included in Sector 2: Randpark Ridge, Weltevreden Park, Allen’s Nek, Constantia Kloof, Constantia Park, Hillfox and Panorama AH.
This emerged during a public meeting held on Tuesday 25 February where crime issues in Sector 2 were discussed.
