Crime on the Atlantic Seaboard has stabilised or decreased while the City Bowl has seeN some disturbing increases, according to the latest police crime statistics released on Tuesday.
The statistics look at crime figures from the beginning of March 2016 to the end of April this year.
Sea Point police station figures show theft from vehicles is still a problem in the area, with 1164 cases, although there are 13 fewer than those reported the previous year over the same period.
Residential burglaries dropped by four cases to 310. Non-residential burglaries dropped from 44 to 42.
When it came to contact crimes, murder was down from three cases to two, but common assault was up from 125 to 132 and assault with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm from 18 to 20.
“Theft out of motor vehicles remains a problem, but we are happy to have it under control,” said station commander Colonel Maehla Lento.
“We are working on a plan for the upcoming festive season. We will do everything in our power to reduce crime,” he said.
At Camps Bay police station, contact crimes were down but property-related crimes were up.
Common robbery rose from 13 to 19 cases, while robbery with aggravating circumstances rose from 12 to 34 cases. Residential burglaries jumped to 173 cases from 108, and theft from vehicles rose from 103 to 141.
Station commander Captain Keith Chandler blamed the increase in theft on the number of visitors to the area.
Cape Town Central police station figures painted a more disturbing picture with an increase in murder cases from 7 to 11. Common assault rose from 931 to 1143 cases, and common robbery went from 600 to 657. Carjackings were also up from 13 to 17 cases. Attempted murders, however, dropped from 12 to nine cases.
The picture was equally bleak with property-related crime, where residential burglaries shot up from 539 to 686 cases, and non-residential ones jumped from 241 to 265.
There were 3770 cases of thefts out of vehicles – a 7.4% increase.
There were 2796 cases of drug-related crime, an increase of 84 cases. Driving under the influence of alcohol saw an increase of 45 cases. Theft of motor vehicles dropped from 345 to 273, cases.
There will be a full wrap-up of all the statistics in next week’s edition of the Atlantic Sun.
