Security company conducts greenbelt patrols

Greenbelts and open areas throughout the Northside have become notorious for the criminal activity that emanates from them.

Residents associations are cleaning up greenbelts to deter criminal activities, but weekly incidents continue, including break-ins, robberies, and criminals fleeing into the area.

The Northsider has on numerous occasions requested information from police spokesperson Captain Tsietsi Phora regarding the prevalence of crime incidents in and around the various greenbelts and open areas but with no success.

According to BCI Security’s operations manager Lionel Gafney, the various open areas and greenbelts continue to be a headache for security companies and law enforcement agencies.

As part of their ongoing attempts to reign in crime in and around greenbelts in the area, Gafney and BCI’s K9 Unit have taken to conducting regular patrols in the various greenbelts throughout the area.

“We regularly see evidence of criminal activity in the Greenbelts,” says Gafney. “The problem is that it is not illegal to be in a greenbelt, so we are rather limited in what we can do if we find someone in a greenbelt.”

Nevertheless, their patrols have had some success.

“I think just the visibility does make a difference,” he says. “It does not go unnoticed that we conduct these patrols, and hopefully that is enough to deter would-be criminals from spending too much time in the greenbelts.”

Gafney adds that the patrols have confirmed that cable theft remains a massive problem in the Northside.

“We come across a lot of stripped electricity cable on nearly every patrol. This shows that despite the efforts of security companies and law enforcement, cable theft shows no signs of abating.”