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LOCAL police station crime statistics were finally made available to the public on Friday when they were posted on the Saps website. In the Wynberg, Kirstenhof and Diep River precincts there was a slight decrease in the amount of cases reported, and burglaries at homes were by far the biggest contributor to the crime figures.

For the period April last year to March this year, Kirstenhof Police Station showed the biggest decrease of 14% (with 468 cases reported), while Diep River showed a decrease of 13.1% (644 cases reported) and Wynberg a slight decrease of 2.3 percent (611 cases reported). All three stations show higher numbers of reported crime of robberies and burglaries.

Many robberies in the Kirstenhof police precinct made headlines this year, and robbery at both residential and business premises showed an increase.

However, Kirstenhof was one of the few stations that showed a decrease in the number of drug-related crimes, which was identified as one of the major factors contributing to crime in the Western Cape.

Spokesperson for the Kirstenhof Police Station, Inspector Rodney Franks, says the stations "policy of transparent communication with the community" is a big contributing factor to the amount of robberies reported in the area, but that the statistics often paint a rosier picture of reality.

Franks says the amount of fast food outlets such as McDonalds and KFC, as well as a growing commercial area contributed to the amount of robberies at business premises, which showed the biggest percentage increase in the area.

Spokesperson for the Diep River Police Station, Inspector Keith Chandler says that, overall, they are quite happy with the outcome of this year's statistics for their station.

Decreases were shown for common robbery, robbery with aggravating circumstances, burglary at business premises, theft of a motor vehicle or motorcycle and theft out of or from motor vehicles.

There was a 44% hike in commercial crimes (comprising, inter alia, credit card scams, cheque fraud and social grant fraud).

A 600% increase in robberies at business premises (due an increase of 1 to 6 reported cases) included children who were robbed of their cellphones at school, and incidents like these pushed up the number, says Chandler.

Spokesperson for the Wynberg Police Station, Inspector Ezra October, says the station will comment on the statistics at an open meeting for the public, Community Police Forum and media. A date for this meeting has not yet been announced.

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