Honeydew CPF Sector 2 manager Sergeant Nicholas Makhura said residential crimes have peaked, according to police stats.
The shortage of patrol vehicles and manpower at the Honeydew Police Station has been labelled as the main cause of the sky-rocketing criminal activities in the police precinct.
The station came under fire after the residents complained that they wait long hours for a response vehicle to attend to their complaints.
An informant from the Sasol garage near Clearwater Mall, where a Mercedes-Benz was hijacked on 19 July, told the Northsider that the victim had to wait five hours for a police vehicle to get to the scene. Fortunately, the vehicle was recovered hours later in Kagiso, west of Johannesburg, after the victim’s tracking company detected its whereabouts.
Read article here: Man watches robbers drive away in his Mercedes Benz
The issue of insufficient resources was tackled at a Honeydew Community Policing Forum (CPF) Sector 2 meeting on 28 July, where members pleaded for support from the police. Areas such as Weltevreden Park and Randpark Ridge required prioritisation as these areas have been subjected to constant house-breakings and dog-poisoning incidents.
Sergeant Nicholas Makhura, the Honeydew Sector 2 manager, again indicated that the area still had a serious problem with residential robberies.
He said house robberies topped the charts in the whole station this month. “House and business robberies were the biggest contributors to the crime rate this month, compared to the same period last year,” said Makhura.
CPF Sector 2 acting chairman, Neville Burnett, criticised the police for only utilising its resources in Cosmo City. “I believe the station is not giving us what we need. This is not on! We are not getting the support that we need. We got to put our foot down. We can’t carry on like this, crime has increased,” he complained.
He added that this matter should be addressed with the station commander.
The lack of police vehicles also created a problem for security personnel, who stated that police response time is poor and they take too long to trace number plates.
Honeydew Police spokesperson, Captain Balan Muthan, responded to the issues. Muthan indicated that some areas in the sector are bigger than others. “People need to understand that the Honeydew police precinct is a very big area which also polices Zandspruit and Cosmo City. The area has six sectors and each sector has two vehicles for patrols.”
He also reflected on how police operate. He said police attend to all complaints; however, there will be times where members prioritise according to the incidents. “A theft that has already occurred will not be as serious as a theft or robbery in progress.
Also, don’t expect that as you put down your telephone, you will have a police van at your doorstep,” Muthan explained.
Muthan further explained that police are taken to task if they fail in their duties. “Our reaction times are monitored on a daily basis, and if a reaction is not within the go period, then the commander or driver is held responsible,” he concluded.
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