Despite a spate of opportunistic incidents, crime in the Cape Town CBD has dropped dramatically during Lockdown.
Only 35 crimes were recorded by the CCID Safety & Security department from 27 March 2020 to 15 April 2020, compared with 151 crime incidents during the same period last year. “This equates to a 76 % reduction in crime,” says CCID Safety & Security manager Mo Hendricks.
There has also been a decrease in contact crimes compared with the same period last year. In 2019 there were 22 robberies, 60 cases of theft out of motor vehicles and 20 cases of people fighting in public. During the first three weeks of Lockdown, there were two robberies, one case of theft out of motor vehicle and four cases of people fighting in public.
The CCID Safety & Security department has continued to operate at full capacity as an essential service during Lockdown, with the full complement of 300 Public Safety Officers being deployed day and night 24/7. “We changed our deployment strategy for the lockdown period, which was due to end on 16 April but has been extended to 30 April, to focus on protecting people, property and possessions,” Mo confirms.
Above: CCID Safety & Security manager Mo Hendriks catches up with one of the CCID PSOs (Public Safety Officer) on duty during Lockdown in Long Street.
CHALLENGING FIRST WEEK
The first week of Lockdown was challenging, Mo says, as “full directives from our law agency partners had not yet filtered down to ground level and many people continued to act as if it was business as usual and wanted to roam the streets as normal”.
However, the CCID’s deployment strategy and high visibility on the streets, coupled with excellent collaboration with its primary partners, SAPS and City of Cape Town Law Enforcement, has been highly effective in combatting crime in the Central City within the CCID footprint.
During the first weekend, 16 suspects were arrested, 14 for breaking into businesses and two for being in possession of implements to break into vehicles. The business break-ins were “opportunistic and sporadic crimes” by criminals who tried to take advantage of the situation. “We immediately shut down their windows of opportunity. The CCID PSOs managed to catch 14 suspects who, with the assistance of SAPS, were arrested over this three-day period.
“Both our primary partners – SAPS and the City of Cape Town’s Law Enforcement agency – have been providing phenomenal support to CCID teams on the ground and have been working tirelessly to enforce Lockdown by holding roadblocks, stopping and challenging people and issuing fines,” says Mo.
Above: CCID Safety & Security manager Mo Hendricks on the beat in Long Street during Lockdown.
BREAKDOWN OF CRIME IN THE CBD
Week 1 of Lockdown: Thursday 27 March to Wednesday 1 April:
There were 20 incidents of crime: business break-ins (5), theft out of motor vehicles (2), shoplifting (3), possession of drugs (3), possession of stolen property (2), fighting in public (2), possession of vehicle break-in implements (2) and common robbery (1).
Week 2 of Lockdown: Thursday 2 April to Wednesday 8 April:
There were 5 incidents of crime: shoplifting (1), possession of stolen property (2), fighting in public (1) and common robbery (1).
Week 3 of Lockdown: Thursday 9 April to Wednesday 15 April:
There were 10 incidents of crime this week: theft out of motor vehicle (1), common robbery (1), shoplifting (1), business break-in (1), possession of illegal substances (1), possession of stolen goods (3), fraud (1) and fighting in public (1).
The main crimes were possession of stolen property (7 incidents), followed by business break-ins (6) and shoplifting (5).
When compared to last year, the 2020 Easter Weekend also saw a decrease in crime incidents, with only seven incidents of crime over the four-day break. These were for shoplifting, common robbery and possession of stolen property. During the 2019 Easter Weekend, 37 incidents were recorded for theft out of motor vehicles, robbery, ATM fraud, business break-ins and fighting in public.
CCID LOCKDOWN STRATEGY
Mo says the CCID predicted that crime patterns would shift during Lockdown to property-related crimes. “We prepared for it by redeploying our Public Safety Officers to be alert for these crimes especially house and business break-ins, malicious damage to property and the destruction of property. We also advised our stakeholders to take preventive measures, to which most of them heeded, with some business owners even boarding up their store fronts.”
Safety & Security’s success during Lockdown so far can also be attributed to having a full complement of staff. “We are fortunate as we did not have any major issues with staff getting to and from work. We have been running at full capacity for most of Lockdown, except for the first two or three days. In some cases, we despatched our mobiles to collect staff who had to perform essential service duty. The taxi situation has been relaxed as well, so it has been business as usual for the members travelling to work and home.”
He adds that as Lockdown continues “all current CCID Safety & Security procedures and protocols will remain in place.”
IMAGES: CCID