If all stakeholders played their part, crime would not be a problem at townhouse complexes.
This was the shared view of those who attended the meeting held at Honeydew Police Station on 20 August.
The meeting was between the police, body corporates from different complexes in the Honeydew precinct and security companies rendering services at those complexes.
According to Honeydew Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Karen Jacobs, the meeting was called to establish a better working relationship between the said role players and police.
“Over the past few weeks, we noticed an increase in house robberies and break-ins at most complexes,” Jacobs informed.
Kicking off the meeting, crime intelligence officer at the police station Captain Jacques Pretorius presented the crime overview at Honey Park and Eagle Complexes.
Pretorius said the criminals have similar modus operandi for the complexes in question, where robberies are the most reported crime.
“Suspects mostly targeted those complexes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays between midnight and 4am,” he said.
They normally gain entry to the complexes over the walls by propping up the electric fences, according to Pretorius.
“Sometimes they gain access through the gate when vehicles enter.”
He added that ground-floor units are the most targeted.
“They do this because normally the sliding doors of ground floor units don’t have security bars.”
He said the criminals don’t always have a set targeted house to break-in or rob.
“If the suspects find victims outside at that time, whether for a smoke or whatever reason, they take the victims inside to rob them.”
Colonel Tobie Terreblanche, head of visible policing at Honeydew Police Station, highlighted the points that affect policing in complexes.
“Criminals find complexes as easy targets because police are unable to gain access at those complexes.”
With this said, Terreblanche told body corporates and security companies to put in place proper security measures at their complexes.
“You cannot have one guard at the premises working for 12 hours and say your complex is secure. If that is what you are doing, it must change because frankly speaking, the guard is only there for access control and not security.”
He emphasised that security guards need to patrol the complexes to pick up any irregularities.
In addition, he said they must have flexible patrols and not repeat the same routine over and over again.
“Suspects take time to study those routines and at the end of the day, those patrols will not serve their purpose.
“Terreblanche advised body corporate members to take responsibility for the safety of residents in their complexes.
“People choose to stay in complexes because they believe they are safer – don’t let them down.”
He also added that proper screening of tenants would also help fight the crime situation.
“Property owners must not rejoice when they have new tenants. You must know where that person comes from, what he/she does for a living and do proper reference checks.”
Terreblanche also highlighted that at the moment, most of the drug-related arrests they make are in townhouse complexes.
“This is because criminals know that we don’t patrol complexes, so we will rely on information received from people like you (body corporates).”
He told them to be whistle blowers.
“If you see a suspicious activity, let us know and we will follow up.”
Adri Africa, who is a body corporate member at one of the complexes, said she found the meeting informative and useful.
“This just shows that if we all work together, we can easily fight crime,” said Africa.
She added that she was glad the police clarified everyone’s responsibilities.
Another body corporate member Johann van Aswegen said he appreciated the initiative started by the police.
“The tips we received from them will surely enable us to make our complexes crime-free,” he added.
After discussions with the stakeholders involved, all parties agreed they will meet every third Wednesday of each month at Honeydew Police Station.
The next meeting will be on 17 September at 12pm, Honeydew Police Station Boardroom.
Details: Honeydew Police Station 011 801 8613; Sector 3 manager Captain André Lamprecht 071 675 7369; Sector 3 deputy manager Sergeant Molly Ramukosi 079 895 0769 .
