Cape Town Central Police Station says officers are working tirelessly to combat crime in the inner city.
The station obtained a notorious first position in the country in the 17 Community-Reported Serious Crimes category in the first quarter crime statistics released recently.
According to the figures, the station recorded 2 801 cases between April to June last year but decreased to 2 765 between April to June this year.
Col Natasha Thomas, Section Commander for Support Services at the station, says the main contributors are theft general, robbery common and theft out of motor vehicle.
Thomas says Long, Strand, Adderley, Loop and Bree streets are the hotspots.
According to the officer, most incidents happen between 21:00 and 03:00.
These happen mostly on Strand and Long streets, followed by Adderley and Loop streets, mostly between 15:00 and 03:00.
Thomas adds: “The specific areas for theft out of motor vehicles currently are mainly Bree, Darling and Buitengracht streets, followed by Adderley and Loop streets occurring mostly between 09:00 and 18:00.”
Thomas says police are working with other law enforcement agencies to combat crime in the area.
“We experience a constant displacement of crime and adjust our operational plans accordingly.
“This office maintains a multi-disciplinary approach, where all partners, i.e. City of Cape Town, CCID, other security agencies and police, meet daily and deploy personnel jointly to the identified areas.”
Thomas says the inner city often sees an increase in people due to several events.
“The awareness of all visitors to Cape Town Central precinct and their proactive actions will assist all crime prevention initiatives activated by law enforcement agencies and their partners.”
Col Delven Matroos, Woodstock Police Station commander, says theft out of and from motor vehicles remains a big concern. The station was ranked 11th in this crime category.
Matroos says seven suspects have been arrested for theft of motor vehicles and 13 arrested for crimes relating to theft out of motor vehicles.
Matroos says several safety interventions have been put in place to deal with the situation.
According to the stats, the Western Cape saw a 5,5% reduction in the murder rate between April to June this year.
Commenting on the figures, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde says:
“The latest figures are encouraging. They reflect the hard work our women and men in blue are doing to further beat back crime, putting themselves at risk. I applaud our crime-fighting community for everything they do.
“We, however, still have a very long way to go. Our job is far from done and we must continue with this momentum, using the Western Cape Safety Plan as our guide, in using the resources that we have we must keep battling crime. Keeping residents safe means offering them dignity.”
Reagen Allen, Western Cape Minister of Police Oversight and Community Safety, says:
“I note the consecutive decrease that we achieved. This is commendable and I applaud our police and LEAP officers for the continued manner in which they are working to create safer communities.”
Allen says gang-related murders remain an ongoing concern in the Western Cape Government, with 166 of the 193 gang-related murders nationally occurring in this province.
“The recent violence during the taxi strike and protests are also alarming, particularly since it included the loss of life.
“Protest action should never lead to the loss of life, and we remain determined to see the murder rate decrease by 50% by 2029.
“We have to pull together to combat murder and all other crimes, as we all have a role to play, regardless of where it might be occurring,” concludes Allen.
