Crime levels declining - report

2011-06-13 09:21

Johannesburg - Crime levels seem to be on the decline throughout South Africa, The Times newspaper reported on Monday.

Police, members of community policing forums, security companies and analysts agreed that crime levels were dropping due to co-operation between the law enforcement agencies and communities.

"Perpetrators see we are working together, which seems to be deterring them," Chubb security spokesperson Alison Bull told the newspaper.

ADT Security Services' national operations director Keith Alberts said there was a "significant decrease" in house break-ins and armed robberies since last year.

"I believe we are still benefiting from extra resources deployed during the World Cup. We are seeing a far more pro-active approach to crime prevention," he said.

Institute for Security Studies crime analyst Johan Burger said Consumer Goods Council of SA figures showed retail armed robbery fell from 282 in 2009 to 159 last year, while burglaries in the sector fell from 426 to 311.

Robberies in the sector caused a loss of R19.36m in 2009 but fell to R10.03m in 2010, while burglaries went down from R19.97m in 2009 to R10.07m last year.

Gauteng police spokesperson Katlego Mogale said a comparison of figures last year for different Johannesburg suburbs with statistics from corresponding periods this year showed a significant decrease.

- SAPA