The Minister of Police took on the unenviable task today (24 October) of announcing the national crime statistics for the 2016/17 period.
In terms of police stations, the Rosebank precinct experienced an 18,1 per cent increase in contact crimes, going up by 40 incidents from 221 recorded the previous year. Although the murder rate remained unchanged – with no cases being reported over the last four years – there was, however, one incident of attempted murder, one up from the previous year.
Sexual offences saw the highest increase, with 10 incidents recorded, nearly twice the number of incidents reported an increase of per cent in comparison with the previous year.
There was an improvement in terms of trio crimes – carjacking, house robbery and business robbery. Of the three, carjacking remains unchanged at 0 per cent. House robbery and bank robbery went down 37,5 per cent and 100 per cent respectively. Combined, they accounted for zero cases of aggravated robberies in the 2016/17 statistics. Other serious crimes, which include commercial crime and shoplifting accounted for an increase of 3,7 per cent of all community reported serious crimes.
Also read: Shoplifting prevention tips for businesses
Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs remains a serious challenge as these crimes accounted for 107 of 134 cases or an increase of 81,4 percent of all crimes detected as a result of police action. This is in stark contrast to the 59 cases recorded in the previous period.
Meanwhile, the Parkview Police Station recorded a staggering increase of 300 per cent in its murder rate. No sexual offences were recorded while assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm increased with 18,9 per cent.
Overall, contact crimes in the Parkview precinct experienced a decline of 5,9 per cent. Sexual offences, aggravated robberies and other serious crimes also declined by 26,7 per cent, 1,9 per cent and 4,2 per cent, respectively.
However, a major concern is crimes detected as a result of police action, which experienced a dramatic increase of 63,2 per cent in the period between April 2016 to March 2017.
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