Drug-related offences in Parow have spiked by a massive 30 percent, according to the latest crime statistics released last week.
Community Safety MEC Dan Plato says drug-related crime in the Western Cape now accounts for 36.26 percent of the total drug-related crime in the country, up from 33.2 percent in 2014/15.
The statistics released by Police Minister Nkosinathi Nhleko on Friday September 2 are for the period of April 1 2015 to March 31 this year. Mr Nhleko said analysis of the statistics indicated a decline in almost all categories of crime with the exception of contact crimes.
“This suggests that in instances where the category of crime can be policed, there is a decline whilst there is an increase in areas that involve social behavioural patterns that are difficult to monitor and police,” he said.
For example, Mr Nhleko said domestic violence often occurred in the privacy of the home and equally often led to murder, rape or any of the other contact crimes.
In Parow, drug-related crimes, rose by 29.6 percent from from 663 cases to 859 cases from 2014/2015 to 2015/2016.
The good news is that common (unarmed) robbery is down 27.4 percent. Murder in Parow dropped from 12 cases (the highest in 10 years) to seven cases. Armed robbery is down 7.5 percent from 617 to 571 cases.
There were small increases in assault with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm (GBH), shoplifting and non-residential burglaries.
However, Mr Plato fears the public may be losing confidence in the police’s ability to effectively attend to complaints.
He points to fewer reported crimes in the province for this year’s statistics (490 383) than the 492 963 reported in 2014/2015.
Meanwhile Goodwood police precinct has seen an increase in armed robbery, shoplifting and common assault.
In 2014/2015, there were 257 reported cases of armed robbery and there are 17 more cases for 2015/2016.
For shoplifting there are 65 more cases, from 335 to 400. Common assault is up from 258 to 281.
There was a 5 percent drop in common (unarmed) robbery in Goodwood. Murder dropped from six cases to 1 case.
Dirk van der Berg, the owner of Goodwood Armed Patrols, said he is happy with the general outcome of the crime statistics, but he urged people to report all crime, including attempted crime, to give “true reflections on what is happening in the community”.
He said Goodwood police had a large area to cover and they had done a good job.
“The community is a major role player too. Residents have become way more aware now, making it difficult for criminals to hit their homes,” said Mr Van Berg.
Roger Canon, chairman of the Parow Community Police Forum, was unable to analyse the statistics by the time this edition went to print.
However, he said he was happy to hear there had been some decreases in the area, including common robberies and theft out of or from cars.
He said extra police visibility, as well as the deployment of law enforcement and the Voortrekker Road Corridor Improvement District guards, had helped to curb crime.