As some of you may be aware, many parts of our City has suffered an increase in criminal activity in recent months. The increased crime did not go unnoticed by the SICID management and behind the scenes we have been working very hard to make a positive contribution to combating crime and stemming this new increase.
The SICID management and Public Safety Service Provider meet with local SAPS officials and Law Enforcement on a weekly basis. In doing an analysis of crime with our primary crime fighting partners, the SAPS and Law Enforcement, the analysis showed how the crime incidents are of different types, times of the day and days of the week. We also noted that most of the reported crimes are on private property. The other incidents of crime is mostly motor related crime, either theft of motor vehicles or theft from motor vehicles. In the case of theft of motor vehicles, the focus seems to be on older model vehicles that are easy to steal. On further investigation we can also note that the theft of vehicles has mostly happened during the daytime while property related crime mostly occur at night.
As an additional response to all matters crime-related, we have prepared the THE CITY IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT GUIDE TO CRIME PREVENTION – INCLUDING SAFETY TIPS
Some of the basic tips are included below but we have dedicated an entire page of the Stikland CID website to Safety Tips covering the following topics: – You can click on each item and we will link you to that section of our Safety Tips Page
- Safety Tips to Prevent Property Crime
- Business and Retail Security
- Dealing with Cash in Your Business
- Be Careful Who You Hire
- Safety Tips for Commuters & Staff Using Public Transport
- ATM Security
- Safety Tips to Avoid Hijackings
- Why Criminals Outsmart Motorists in Smash and Grabs
- Safety Tips in Rainy Weather
- Don’t Be a Victim of Cyber-Crime
The most important element for all readers of this guide is to change your mindset. If you are under the impression, albeit subconsciously, that crime only affects others, then it’s time for a reality check.
Prevention is better than cure, therefore we urge property and business owners to make every effort to prepare their properties, businesses, staff and themselves against criminal action.
Although we distribute local SAPS and Law Enforcement contact details we suggest the following: “If there is an emergency, call 10111. You could be wasting time in an emergency if you contact a sector vehicle or local SAPS. A sector vehicle could be attending to another crime. It is best to call 10111 because available police officers will attend. People also tend to call the SAPS first if someone is stabbed or shot for example. In instances like this, first call an ambulance. It could save the person’s life.
We scoured various guides and articles on safety and security and have summarised the following safety tips and guidelines. We realise that not all these may be applicable to everyone, nor do we suggest that our lists are comprehensive and all-encompassing. We do however believe that these tips make good business sense.
SAFETY TIPS TO PREVENT PROPERTY CRIME
- Ensure that your property can be secured properly. This includes checking all locks, gates, doors, windows and roller shutters.
- Ensure there are no gaps in your fence or perimeter wall or unintentional points of access to your home which may need additional security.
- Make sure that all bushes or trees close to your walls, gates and fences are trimmed, to avoid the possibility of intruders hiding behind them or using them to access your property.
- Adequate lighting around the perimeter of your house acts as a good deterrent
- Connecting outdoor lights to timers and motion sensors act as an additional deterrent.
- Have an alarm installed by a reputable security company with armed response.
- The key to effective security lies in being able to detect a potential intruder before they gain access. Adding detection beams and sensors of electrical fences vastly contributes to property security
- Ensure that your alarm is in working order. Business and property owners should test their alarms at least once a month and should the system require servicing this should be arranged as early as possible.
- Please ensure that all the key holder information is available and ensure that key holders are available and able to come out to the property should the alarm activate, and checking be required.
- Don’t leave ladders, spades or tools outside as these can be excellent break-in tools.
- Ensure that remote controls for automatic gates and garage doors are not left lying around.
- Always be alert to vehicles or persons following you into your entrance or the parking area.
Access control
- If people arrive to read electricity or water meters on your property, insist on seeing official identification and if possible, follow up with the relevant department before you allow them in.
- Be aware that people may present themselves with a ruse that they are doing collections for various ‘charities’ – this is almost guaranteed to be a scam.
Sadly, we recently also noticed that more and more property owners are becoming apathetic towards the safety of their property and goods and we would like to suggest the following good practices/preventative measures to prevent loss/theft.
