Cop-free crime stats online

2003-09-09 08:06

East London - While the country waits for the government to release official crime statistics, people have resorted to a website to keep tabs on crime.

The unique website informs the public about incidents of crime in their area and even provides statistics down to the finest detail.

Log onto www.crimestats.co.za and you can get statistics on crime in your city, suburb and even the street where it took place.

With the click of a mouse, the public can also report incidents of crime in their area.

Founded by Johannesburg businessman Spero Patricios, this six-day old free website has already had a staggering 16 000 hits and as many as 216 incidents had been reported.

"And this is without advertising or marketing ...it's been through word of mouth," said Patricios.

Patricios said he decided to launch the website shortly after listening to a radio show last month.

The presenter commented that it was ridiculous that there were no crime statistics available to the public. Two weeks later, crimestats.co.za was in operation.

Our hands are tied

Patricios said: "We live in country with a lot crime and yet our hands are virtually tied without information. We need statistics to know what is going on around us."

The Safety and Security Ministry, which is aware of the website, raised concerns about the accuracy of the statistics.

But Patricios argued that he was faced with same dilemma that confronts the police almost daily.

"Crimes are reported at police stations every day, but there is never a guarantee that they are accurate. People who report incidents to the website are often anonymous, so it doesn't preclude the possibility of inaccuracies."

He added that in due time a strategy would be launched to verify some of these incidents.

Patricios said a setback was that not everyone had access to the Internet.

"But if you are aware of an incident, then you should ask someone who has access to the Internet to report the matter."

He added that since launching the website, reaction from the public had been "phenomenal".

"People have offered to market the website for free... and I have not received any complaints from the police. It's my democratic right to operate this website."

The Safety and Security Ministry recently stated that the official statistics would be released before the end of this month.

- SAPA