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CRIME FIGURES remain the exclusive property of the national police commissioner until they are officially released to the public ? twice a year.

This was the message reiterated in a joint crime meeting in Simon's Town on Tuesday, 29 April. The meeting involved the local police, representatives of the Community Police Forum (CPF), neighbourhood watch members, security companies, and other Simon's Town community groups.

A person who was present at the meeting, but wishes to remain anonymous, said that people were told that police will not be able to provide crime statistics in these meetings any more. He said one of the reasons given was that security companies were using statistics to drum up business.

The instruction to withhold the statistics has reignited the concern of some community members, who feel that the public should have unrestricted access to current crime statistics, including incidence fi?gures, to gain a clear picture of the crime situation.

Captain Cesley Olivier, station commissioner of the Simon's Town Police, said that nothing has changed and that the message was merely confirming what was already in place.

"This is not a new instruction. Crime statistics are only publicised by the national commissioner. Statistics are not always interpreted correctly and can cause unnecessary distress and confusion: therefore, it is not always viable to supply crime statistics," she said.

"This office will, however, ensure that the community of Simon's Town is aware of crime trends, hot-spots and modus operandi, to ensure the safety of our community."

Olivier said there was a case in the past when a member of the public incorrectly reported the crime numbers in the area to their neighbourhood, causing unwarranted distress.

"The resident thought that that the figure they heard referred to their specific neighbourhood, when the number supplied was actually for the entire precinct. This caused a lot of panic and alarm and we had to calm many people down," she said.

Arne Soderlund, chairperson of the Simon's Town CPF, said he was not greatly alarmed by the message. "I still think that we will get enough information from the police to help us with combating crime in the area," he said.

Soderlund added that if he feels that crime fighting efforts are being impeded by the withholding of information, he will address the issue through the relevant channels. David Bruce, a committee member on the Simon's Town CPF ? and a former director of Interpol ? was not present at the meeting, but says he feels it is important that the police release crime figures on a weekly basis to the public. He stressed that crime figures and crime statistics are not necessarily the same thing.

He said crime figures refer to reported cases; statistics refer to percentages indicating whether crime is increasing or decreasing.

"As long as they release reported crimes for that particular area and are prepared to say how many, then I have got no problem with that. This allows the public to be informed and enables them to be vigilant.

"You can't keep the public in the dark," he said.

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