Police and authorities have taken proactive steps to address crime amid worrying crime statistics released on Friday.PHOTO: Samantha Lee-Jacobs
- Mitchells Plain and Lentegeur police stations rank among the top in South Africa for arrests related to drugs and firearms.
- Despite these achievements, serious crime, including gang-related murders, remains a significant concern in the community.
- Community policing forums stress the need for continued proactive measures and greater community involvement.
While serious crime remains a concern for the broader Mitchells Plain community the release of the first-quarter crime statistics for 2024-’25 also sees two Mitchells Plain police stations recognised nationally for their positive impact on reducing crime.
On Friday 30 August, National Police Minister Senzo Mchunu released the statistics covering the period April to June 2024, with chilling results specifically around the more than 6 000 national murders over the period.
Of note, in the overall top 30 results are Mitchells Plain Police Station, ranking in pole position, and Lentegeur Police Station ranking in fourth nationally for arrests in the country. They each hold this same position on the provincial lists.
Known as “Crime detected as a result of police action”, this includes four sub-categories: drug arrests and detections, firearm and ammunition possession, driving under the influence and sexual offences detected as a result of police action. Nationally, Mitchells Plain ranks first with 53 firearm- and ammunition-related arrests and first for drug-related arrests at 1 202. The station is not listed in the top 30 of the other two categories.
Lentegeur is listed in the top 30 of drug-related arrests, at fourth position nationally with 729 arrests. While not featuring in any of the other three nationally, it is listed in the provincial list for driving under the influence, at 25th place, with 24 arrests.
For any station, ranking in these categories is a positive thing.
Norman Jantjes, Mitchells Plain Community Policing Forum (CPF) chair, said the station’s positive results were the combination of regular crime meetings, sector policing and the quality of information delivered from the safety volunteers.
“Mitchells Plain has a huge population and high level of crime,” he said. “I think there is some visibility and the whole thing about sector commanders also contributes a lot. The biggest thing that helps the station is the involvement of volunteers – subform members and neighbourhood watch members – who contribute because they give quality information.”
Jantjes adds that the presence of Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) officers does positively contribute to overall visibility in the area.
Community-reported crime
While these two stations feature prominently with arrests, the instances of serious crime remain a concern, especially in the Mitchells Plain policing precinct.
For the overall 17 serious crimes reported by the community, Mitchells Plain is in fourth overall position nationally with 1 887 cases reported. Mitchells Plain also ranks 12th overall for murder with 43 cases, first for sexual assaults, crimen injuria, contact-related crimes and malicious damage to property, second in common assault and also in the top 30 of other serious crimes such as attempted murder – fourth nationally and first in the province, with 68 cases.
Mitchells Plain does not make the national list for rape, but does come in at 18th provincially with 16 cases. Of note is the reduction of 14 cases year on year, having reported 30 for the same period last year. Jantjes said murders remain high and, despite a slight decline, it seems to be rising again.
“Most of the serious and violent crimes – murders and attempted murders – is related to gang violence, so we can do more,” he said.
With the change of station management and the removal of some senior officials, this has posed an additional challenge.
“We also have young detectives, some of whom don’t have the expertise or even understand the culture of the gangs in Mitchells Plain, or what to look out for,” Jantjes said.
Lentegeur makes its appearance only on the national top 30 lists for malicious damage to property at 29th with 96 cases, crimen injuria at 22nd, with 41 cases, and contact-related crimes at 30 with 97 cases.
Strandfontein does not feature in any of these lists.
Byron Devilliers, Lentegeur CPF chair, said despite the positive results on arrests, the stats remain concerning.
“For us as Lentegeur CPF it’s concerning, especially the murder rate,” he said. “Let us hope with this new agreement between the City and police, that there will be a more proactive approach (to fighting crime) rather than a reactive one.
“We know the stats are based on reported crime and not actual crime. Lots of crimes go unreported, and as the CPF we want to continue to encourage our community to report crime. In this way we can also request additional officers for the station.”
For a detailed breakdown of the crime stats for Mitchells Plain, Lentegeur and Strandfontein, visit our online platforms or read more in our next edition.
Samantha Lee-Jacobs
www.news24.com
