Stats show crime on the rise in Durban
Crime statistics in Durban for January show an almost 10% increase on the previous month.
|||Durban - Crime appears to be on the rise across Durban, with crime statistics for last month, compiled by a private security company, showing an almost 10% increase on the previous month.
“There were 546 crimes reported in January compared with 493 in December across all areas.
“Morningside, Pinetown and Westville had the greatest number of crimes reported last month,” said Blue Security operations manager, Brian Jackson, on Tuesday.
Crimes that spiked the most were hijackings, trespassing and attempted business break-ins.
Business and residential break-ins were also on the rise.
Gordon Donaldson and Piere van Schalkwyk were killed in violent home invasions in Westville North earlier this year. Blue Security’s statistics showed Westville to be among the city’s hardest hit areas each month for the past three months.
Westville community police forum (CPF) chair, Mike Myers, said he had met the Westville police station commander and gone through protocols and crime plans they would put in place.
“CPF-registered neighbourhood watches are working with police, running patrols and crime prevention operations – including observations – in the area,” Myers said.
Westville had a huge volunteer base, Myers said, and people were working extra shifts and additional patrols were taking place.
Myers was encouraged by the work taking place and said police were pulling in extra resources and dealing with the problem.
Referring to the 2013 spike in crime in the area, Myers said: “We’ve got on top of this before and I’m confident that we’ll do it again.”
Another area hard hit by violent crime in recent months has been eManzimtoti, where Lorraine Roberts and Raymond Collyer were killed in home invasions.
Jackson said incidents reported in the southern Durban suburb had increased dramatically from last month to this month.
Incidents reported included hijacking and armed robberies.
eManzimtoti community police forum’s Tommy Ackermann said crime had “reached another level” in the area in the past two to three months.
“It appears to be crime of an aggressive kind,” he said. “But it is not out of control and our local police are on top of it.”
A peace march and a memorandum to be delivered to authorities was being planned for April, Ackermann said.
A community meeting will be held next month.
“The spike in crime in recent months is worrying,” Jackson added.
Tyron Powell, director of Law Enforcement Foundation and co-owner of Marshall Security, which provides private security in the Durban North suburbs, said there had been a slight increase in crime in his areas since December.
He said there had not been any major incidents in the area besides theft of motor vehicles and burglaries.
“It generally goes quiet from December until mid-January. We work closely with Greenwood Park and Durban North police stations. We share information and crime patterns, which helps in preventing crime. We are aware of wanted vehicles and wanted suspects so we are making a difference.”
Daily News