S.Africa: Johannesburg: Latest crime stats paint a bleak picture

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Here are the figures at a glance with Brixton Police Station featuring three times on lists for high crime areas.

The four police stations in the Northcliff Melville Times footprint are Brixton, Fairland, Linden and Sophiatown.

Brixton placed 21st on the national list of stations with the highest levels of common robberies.

It also placed 14th for robberies at residential premises.

Brixton and Linden placed 17th and 27th, respectively. for theft of motor vehicles and motorcycles.

Each time a crime is reported it is allocated a specific code. Murder, for example, is 31984 and police murders 31989. These are captured daily and form the basis for the quarterly crime reports released by the police.

Owner of SCP Security Clive Maher says he believes the true statistics are much higher than those reported.

“While the police record what is reported to them, the Governance, Public Safety and Justice Survey (GPSJS) paints a different picture. Take carjackings, for instance – 128 000 people said they experienced a hijacking in 2022/2023 but the police only recorded 22 742 cases. The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) also dispute the official numbers, saying they do not reflect what is actually happening on the ground.”

Clive Maher, owner of SCP Security. Photo: Emily Wellman Bain
Clive Maher, owner of SCP Security. Photo: Emily Wellman Bain
Managing director of Beagle Watch André Aiton said, “The statistics show crime is on the increase and of a more violent nature. I have never seen what I am seeing today after 30 years in the industry. The police to me cannot cope with the crime wave that we have now, which is mainly a result of unemployment and foreign nationals. We have had two of our customers in the last 48 hours alone hospitalised due to violent crime.”

Here is a snapshot of the officially released crime stats:

The crime stats focus on 21 priority crimes such as:
Contact (crimes against the person / hijacking)
Contact related (arson / malicious damage to property)
Property related (theft / housebreaking)
Other serious crimes (theft of property / commercial crime)
Crimes detected because of police action (drugs / illegal firearms)
Maher says cars most often on hijackers’ radars are:

VW Polo
Toyota Hilux
Toyota Etios
Ford Ranger
Toyota Fortuner
Nissan NP200

Contact crimes (murders, rape, carjacking, etc) have increased slightly in Gauteng from 40 332 cases in the 2022 period to 42 752 cases for 2023.

Some highlighted causes for these crimes are:
Arguments
Provocation
Mob justice
Revenge
Hijacking
Rape related
Sexual offences

2022 had 2415 cases with the most recent stats giving 2392, a slight decrease.

Rape

2022 had 1 909 with 2023 having 1 910.
The most frequent places for sexual offences and rape to occur are:
Residence of the perpetrator or victim
Street, open fields, recreational centres
In a car, bus, taxi
Places of learning like schools and universities.
Aside from making sensible decisions about your personal security, Maher said, “If you have a local CPF or neighborhood watch group in your area, spring is a great time to join or attend meetings. Being familiar with your neighbours and local events and goings-on can help everyone stay informed and watch out for each other.”

The police’s Captain Jeff Phoro did not respond to questions submitted by the Northcliff Melville Times by the time of going to print.

Source: https://northcliffmelvilletimes.co.za/381980/latest-police-crime-stats-paint-a-bleak-picture/

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