'Crime-fighters must unite'

The police and community must work together to fight crime - that was the main message from a crime imbizo held at Lansdowne civic centre on Saturday, May 10.

Residents, neighbourhood watches, community police forums, police, and City of Cape Town officials attended the imbizo.

Consultative policing, as explained by Lansdowne police station head, Colonel Alroy Van Der  Bergh, was when a community had a stake in policing, and the police together with residents and other stakeholders came together to fight crime.

This, he said, was the future approach of policing. Safe-guarding the community requires a proactive and solutions-based approach.

Crime is both a cause and a symptom; it weakens our social fabric and is a symptom of poverty, unemployment and inequality, said Colonel Van Der Bergh.

“We need to understand the root cause. Forging partnerships is imperative. We need each other. We are not ignorant to the needs of our community. Our community is fundamental in addressing policing concerns. Lansdowne is privileged to have so many structures battling crime,” he said. 

Mitchell's Plain sub district commissioner Brigadier Mark Hartzenburg, said there was a good working relationship between the community and police in Lansdowne. He said he was impressed by the various integrated approaches. He reminded residents that police were doing their best with the resources available. 

“We ask for your patience while we try to provide assistance with short staff. There is a huge load of dockets that need attention. We are sitting with a problem of cases struck off the court roll. There are challenges in detectives' environment. Crime in Lansdowne is much lower than other areas which will get more deployment. It is important for us to listen to you,” he said. 

Colonel Van Der Bergh said over the last financial year, contact crime, murder, assault, and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, had decreased. He could not provide statistics as he wasn’t allowed to yet, he said.

Robberies in Lansdowne, he said, were prevalent with an increase of 38%. Drugs and firearm confiscation also increased via stop-and-search operations, which lead to an increase of 39% in drug-related arrests.

Lansdowne resident Andre Jacobs said it was unfortunate that the community turnout was poor.

“I congratulate the integrated team for restoring confidence in the community. Residents on the chats vs reality is vastly different. I am grateful for the work being done in Lansdowne,” he said. 

Chairman of Belthorn Neighbourhood Watch, Howard Williams, said many crimes in the area were not reported.

“We had two incidents of residents being followed and attempted hijacking. Victims don't want to report crime because they fear for their lives. We need statistics on the number of people that don't report cases and why? And how can we rectify that? There are inconsistencies among crime fighters with protocol not followed when ground-level crime is committed,” he said. 

Brigadier Hartzenburg said it was encouraging to hear so many people involved in community safety. 

“I applaud you for playing a role in Lansdowne. If crime is not reported the stats won't show. Usually after imbizos there's an increase in crime reported because we ask you to report it. If we do not receive complaints we are under the impression everything is okay. When you complain we fix it one at a time,” he said.