Brig Billings reported that the Sandton station currently had a total of 297 personnel; namely 188 in Visible Policing, 89 Detectives, 15 Support Services and 5 MIC (Crime Intelligence).
Brig B introduced the following Sandton SAPS personnel who regularly come into contact with the community:
• Vispol Operational Support Manager, Lt/Col Owen King;
• Communications/Training Officer, Capt Kym Cloete;
• Social Crime Prevention Officer, Sgt Cynthia Segoa;
• Five Sector Commanders – Sector 1 Capt Dorasamy; Sector 2 Cst Madisha; Sector 3 Capt Moleya; Sector 4 Cst Mbatha; Sector 5 Capt Semenya.
The Client Service Centre (originally known as the Charge Office) was operational 24/7.
Brig B advised that to combat crime in our area, partnerships with the community were absolutely vital.
Brig B reported that since he first came to Sandton some 6 years ago, together with Col Kilian, serious crime had gone down between 40% and 50%.
The concern is still ‘Trio Crimes’, i.e. house robberies, hijackings and business robberies.
He noted that most of the Sandton community have expensive alarm systems but these are not always activated. The community must be made aware that even if they step out for “a short while”, windows, doors and gates needed to be locked and alarm systems activated.
Hijacking incidents have come down and are now more opportunistic by nature. Be aware of pedestrians loitering around gates, rather drive away and return later when it is clear.
Community must also be aware that driveway robberies are taking place. These are perpetuated by a gang that follows people with expensive cars as the criminals assume their victims will be wearing expensive watches and jewellery. There are currently 5 to 6 cases pending against the “Rolex” gang and SAPS was working hard on these. Recently there was a confrontation with members of this gang and a SAPS vehicle where shots were traded and unfortunately the SAPS vehicle was damaged and could not continue the chase.
In addition a black Polo with blue lights has been identified as a danger to the community within Sandton and the surrounding areas. Neighbouring police stations are also on the look-out in this regard.
Business robberies – mainly cell phone shops and outlets are being targeted. Sandton SAPS have had meetings with managers of cell phone shops to address this issue with differing success rates.
Property crimes such as theft out-of-motor vehicle incidents total approximately 120 cases per month. Only one car manufacturer (BMW) has upgraded remote control frequency so that jamming devices cannot currently be successfully used. Other manufacturers have reported that it is too expensive to do so. The community is asked to ensure they park in well-lit areas and to manually check that their vehicles are locked at shopping malls, etc.
Following from banks are also a problem and Sandton SAPS have held meetings with managers from shopping centres and banks in order to address these problems from various avenues.
