News January 2011 to April 2011 Newsworthy items, security advice etc.
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NEWS,
Comments
& Reports <From January 2011 to April 2011
Welcome to Westbeat - The Westville CPF Web
site's News page.
Your report back pages where you may pass on your good news and your bad news about crime in the Westville
CPF area. Your experience will be a warning to others, We welcome your participation. Please include any relevant photo's of collateral damage to your property or your vehicle. Report locations of danger and hijacking. Window smash and grab etc.
The whole reason for these web pages is to alert you to the current dangers and to examine your own security set up. Others will benefit from your experience. Prevention will be cheaper in the long run.
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Happy
Easter to many in Wentworth - 2011-04-28
Colonel Dion Singh, the previous Station Commander of SAPS Westville
approached me with a challenge to collect Easter Eggs for
underprivileged children in Wentworth, his new Station. At Westville,
we decided that we were going to go the whole hog and collect for our
own needy community as well. After my appeal, the response from
Schools, Business and private individuals was tremendous.
Flight Center, Westville Boys High and Rotary very kindly donated over
30 boxes of eggs EACH, so before any other rolled in, my office was
jam-packed with over 100 boxes of marshmallow Easter Eggs. Westville
Senior and Junior Primary also donated a great pile of boxes as well.
Rotary took it a step further and gave us several bags of toys to be
given to children.
Last week, Thursday, I delivered over 40 boxes of eggs to Wentworth
SAPS, and was gladly received by my old friend and colleague, W/O Balan Reddi, who manages Social Crime Prevention as well as a
protection shelter for women and children in need in Wentworth.
Today, the Westville Crime Prevention distributed the remainder of the
boxes, over 50 in fact along with toys to the community of Banana City
informal settlement. The people there are impoverished and many are
unemployed so the children are often the ones who suffer the most,
going without what most take for granted. Over the years, Westville
SAPS has built up an extremely good relationship with the residents
there and we often bring them food, gifts and clothing.
The Eggs were gladly received by the children and within a few minutes
there were two dozen choclate smeared, sticky, smiling faces around.
The bags of toys were handed over to the ladies who manage a small
creche in the settlement and they said the toys were wonderful.
A big thank you to the schools, private individuals, Rotary and Flight
Centre for their gracious donations. Please know that the gifts went
to a needy cause and were highly appreciated.
Regards
Cst Stephen Clark
SAPS Westville
Changes
to the logistical and administrative aspects of Sector Policing in
Westville As you may or may not know Westville SAPF is one of 8
geographical police stations within the Pinetown Cluster. The area
that falls within the Westville policing mandate is the old
municipal area known as Westville. To monitor crime trends and to
facilitate the proactive attempts to counteract crime Westville
was divided into 4 Policing Sectors. Ideally each sector was to
have dedicated policing members with backup admin staff.
Due to insufficient resources and
logistical limitations the number of sectors has been reduced to
two with each having an administrative leader to coordinate
policing in those specific sectors.
As a first step the two sectors are
now sector 1 formed by merging Berea West and Dawncliffe and
Sector 2 formed by merging Westville Central and Westville North.
There will be a few minor changes within the boundaries of the two
new sectors.
The benefit to the residents,
businesses, churches and schools etc is that there will be Sector
leaders who are Police members living in the respective sectors
who will liaise with the community. The Westville CPF will
assist with the new order and help to keep people informed.
A list of street names in each
new sector can be viewed in alphabetical order click
here.
Crime
Prevention Strategy works
2011-04-06
Westville Crime Prevention made an excellent arrest today of two suspected housebreakers.
Members under the command of Capt RR Maharaj were patrolling Westville
and when crossing the Bristol Road bridge spotted the two suspects
walking on the N3 carrying property. They drove down to Derwent
Road and the members braved traffic to approach the duo. The one suspect
who was carrying a large object wrapped in a sheet stopped immediately
and surrendered while the second took off running. Warrant Officer
Desen Pillay took off after him and a long foot chase ensued.
The suspect refused to stop and W/O Pillay chased him, running from
the N3, over Spaggetti Junction to the N2 north bound. From there the
suspect ran up through bush onto the M13 towards 45th Cutting.
Eventually W/O Pillay caught up to him at the KFC in Sherwood at 45th
Cutting. Over 5 kilometres in rain ! Such is the dedication of
Westville Police to bring criminals to book.
The parcel being carried turned out to be a clearly stolen Plasma television and investigations are
underway to find out who it was stolen from.
In the mean time, the two suspects will be charged with possession of
stolen property and will appear in court soon. Detectives are expected
to oppose bail as the case is still yet to be completed.
Submitted
by
Cst SD Clark
SAPS Westville
Communications
Under
aged drinking Parenting starts at home. Two things happened this week which prompted this article.
First I was phoned by the Security Manager of a shopping center.
He said parents of a 14 year old wanted to open a case against an
employee of a shop for buying liquor for the child. They admitted
that their 14 year old had approached the person to purchase
liquor on his/her behalf, the employee had done so and the child
had drunk themselves into hospital. Now I agree that the
“suspect” should have refused to buy the liquor, having more
common sense than a snail, but who is really to blame here?
If
you happen to visit the Skate Park at the Pavilion, as an example,
on any weekend night that there are hundreds of similarly aged
youth wandering around getting up to all sorts of mischief. It
seems very clear to me that modern parenting consists of
“Here’s a couple hundred bucks, get out of my sight.”
Because there is zero supervision and when there is a problem,
there appears to be complete ignorance verging of oblivion from
the parents’ part as to what actually goes on. The fault as I
see it is that there is very little guidance in the moral vein
from parents as to what their very young children do out of sight.
The solution, it seems, is to point blame everywhere from the
Police, the center management to society except to the parents who
should ultimately take responsibility for their children.
Secondly,
today in the Mercury Newspaper a glimmer of light appeared. A
letter to the Editor from “Concerned Parent” brought out this
exact problem. I quote: “We as parents need to start being more
vigilant. Your little darlings-all of them- are the ones doing the
binge drinking. Please do not be naïve enough to think that they
are not…. Perhaps it is time we invested in breathalyzers and
checked our children after a party, before they join the
generation of teen binge drinkers or worse.”
(Disposable
breathalyzers are available at Dis-Chem)
If
your underage child wants alcohol, they will find it. Fact.
Pointing a finger at the venue
where you dropped
them off is insanity. If they end up at other places you did not
envisage, that again is your problem. You need to look at who your
child’s friends are and how they are getting to where they are.
Here, I have a turn at pointing a very serious finger. What sort
of example are you setting
for the child? Having a beer around a braai with friends and
children is in this Policeman’s opinion relatively harmless. How
we as adults behave as the afternoon progresses is another issue altogether. Does
your young child see you stagger home blasted after a night out?
(I’m not even touching on drunk driving yet!) If that child is
learning behavior from you the parent, how dare you blame anyone
else for their behavior when you are not around!
Children
lack the wisdom of experience. A fourteen year old who has never
touched a drop of alcohol does not know what will happen a bottle
of Vodka later. They see others (read: you included) chug back
drinks like they are dying of thirst and think it’s cool. For
years I worked in nightclubs and it was a never ending struggle to
keep the underage kids out and prevent the rest from smuggling
drinks to them. I go back as far as the mid ‘90’s when I
wondered if parents knew their rug rats were hanging around the
steps of Joe Kool’s until 3 in the morning. What did they think?
The kids spent the night eating ice cream? It is the duty of you
as a parent to guide and control what goes in your child’s brain
via eyes, ears and mouth. How can you believe that it’s only a
small portion of your responsibility?
More
than a few times I’ve had a mother or father come into the
Police Station dragging a teenager behind them. The plea is nearly
always the same: “Please do
something with him. He’s out of control!”
My
first response has nearly always been the same too: “Where have
you been for the last 16 years before
he got out of control” Submitted
by SX-07
BE WARNED - ACT NOW!
The much under-publicized, but newsworthy, fact is that midnight on
Sunday 10 April 2011 is the deadline set by the Minister of Police for
every gun owner - whose competency certificate ‘expired’ on or
before 10 January 2011 - to apply to renew it. He also warned that the
penalties for failure to comply would be severe, so
* Despite the short notice;
* Despite the virtual silence of the SAPS on the subject;
* Regardless of when (if ever) the validity of your firearm licence ‘expires’;
* Despite the chaos that already exists within the Central Firearms
Registry; and
* Thankless though the task may be;
It is in your own best interests to check your competency certificates
NOW and apply to renew them if they have expired.
If you are among the many thousands who could be affected by this Notice, complete the (brand-new) form SAPS 517(g) and hand it in to
your local Firearms Control Officer asap. Keep a copy, get a receipt,
etc etc in case you need evidence of your innocence. (The seven page
application/declaration form should be available from police stations
- if they have run out of stock, you can download and print it out
from the link on SAGA’s website <www.saga.org.za>.)
The SAPS has promised that the position of those firearm owners who
have already applied by using the now outdated form SAPS 517 (i.e.
without that important little ‘(g)’) will not be prejudiced and these
people need not repeat the exercise using an SAPS 517(g). Prior to the
promulgation (Govt Gazette 33871 of 17 December 2010) of “Certain
Provisions of the Firearms Control Amendment Act, 2006 (Act No 26 of
2006)” there wasn’t proper provision for the renewal of competencies.
This IMPORTANT NOTICE is issued in the public interest by the SA
Gunowners' Association (A non party-political, non-profit association
of concerned citizens) PO Box 35203, Northway, 4065
************************************************************************
Submitted
by SX-07
Three short articles:
- 04 March
2011 Alarm armed and Insurance
Each week, the management and detective heads of SAPS Westville have a meeting with the representatives of the various service providers. The aim of these meetings is to share information regarding crime trends and to build closer relationships with a view to providing a better service to you, the community member.
One important factor came up in this week’s meeting that needs sharing. Have a close look at your home contents insurance policy if you have an alarm or reaction service linked to a security company such as ADT, Blue or Chubb Security. We have been reliably informed that if you suffer a housebreaking while you are out and valuables are stolen but you did not arm your alarm, insurance companies can and have refused the claim to replace or pay out for the items lost. For years, through the Community Policing Forum, the SAPS and Security Companies have pleaded for homeowners to arm their alarms EVERY time you leave home. We repeat this plea in earnest, firstly because the early warning drastically increases the chances of us catching the criminals, and secondly for your sake, you will be able to replace what has been stolen.
Please check this clause with your insurance and Security Service Provider. It is in your own interest.
Laptops and jewelry
For some time, but even more so currently, there has been a lot of housebreakings where jewelry has been stolen. I can almost bet that if I walked into your house I could find yours within a few minutes as it is normally stored in either a bedside or dresser drawer. Please take the time to store jewelry more securely, or at least be a bit more creative in where you keep it. The oldest trick was to put necklaces and rings in a coffee tin in the kitchen. If not, why not. Other places could be empty body lotion or powder bottles. One friend of mine went to a SPCA book sale and bought a thick hard cover book that he had no intention of reading. Being a viewer of several spy stories, he used a sharp Stanley knife and cut a hollow into the center pages and keeps his wife’s spare jewelry safely in the well-stocked bookcase.
Jewelry is notoriously hard to keep records of. You don’t really want to engrave your name and phone number on the back of your late grandmother’s brooch. My suggestion is to take photographs of the items and keep hard copies of them hidden in places like behind other photos you have displayed. In the photo have a part of your driver’s licence and a ruler to help with the scale of the item. If by misfortune this item is stolen or lost, you can now prove it was yours and have an accurate depiction of what to look for. Part of a detective’s duty is to canvass second hand brokers for jewelry that has been “sold” by criminals. If you open a case and supply copies of the pictures you have taken you will assist greatly in helping to recover your goods.
Laptops are very frequently stolen. Worse is the information you had on them is now lost, possibly permanently. First off, make copies of all-important documents that are on the laptop and store them separately. Up to 8 gigabyte flash drives are relatively affordable and can save you a lot of trauma if you have it hidden away somewhere. Even better, make a couple of copies of ultra-important files and keep them in several places. Even give one to a trusted friend. Security should be a habit and a state of mind, not just a lock and key.
Further on laptops, take time to record the serial numbers and keep them WRITTEN DOWN somewhere safe. This will help prove ownership to insurance and to the Police if the item is recovered. Another mate of mine writes his name on everything with a permanent marker. Do the same, but take a step further. Take a sharp object and scratch your initials in a place that won’t easily be noticed or recognized buy a thief, but you can describe and identify immediately.
Arrests for housebreaking
Westville SAPS Station Commander, Colonel E. Emmanuel has placed a couple of detectives as a task team specifically dedicated to tracing wanted criminals. The benefit of this is that once an individual is arrested he can be immediately linked to several cases, either through fingerprints or witness statements. Over the past weekend, Constables Kathi and Mlambo arrested three wanted criminals. They
were charged for housebreaking and theft and will appear in court soon. Bail will be opposed as the trio will have either existing warrants out for them or because they are linked to several cases. In either way, the next few months will see them shuffling from court to prison to court awaiting trial. Good work guys, keep it up.
Submitted
by SX-07
Breaking
News
The following is the content of a
regular email sent by Blue Security to subscribers in the Durban
Area. If you would like to get these regular email alerts please
subscribe directly. click
here and put your email address in the box provided. This
email was forwarded by Malcolm Hawkey 25 February 2011
Over
the past couple of weeks we’ve noticed an
increase in the number of armed robberies. More
businesses than residential properties seem to
be being targeted and it appears that the
primary motive for these armed robberies is the
theft of cash. In a couple of incidents it
certainly seems that the suspects were tipped
off to the fact that unsecured cash was being
transported to the premises or being held on the
premises. We’d advise all businesses to
move to EFT payments of staff wages and to
regularly remove cash from tills to a secure
safe during trading hours. Gatecrashing is
still prevalent in the Highway area and open
doors and windows are, once again, the preferred
entry points of criminals to residential and
business premises – no surprises here. In the
words of the notorious former American burglar
Jack Maclean in his book Superthief: “With the
exception of the extreme professional, most
burglars are lazy. Your job is to convince
criminals of three things:
1. They
are going to have a really tough time getting
into your premises.
2. If they do get in, they’ll probably
get caught.
3. If they don’t get caught, it may be
because they’ll be dead or seriously injured
before the police get there.”
Let’s
take a more detailed look at what’s been going
on this week.
Musgrave,
Rape – Residential (17 February 2011,1:28:59) A black male entered the resident’s
daughter’s bedroom by removing the glass from
an unsecured louver window. The suspect raped
the daughter at knife-point.
No
words can diminish the tragedy of this event.
It’s cold comfort, we know, but we just
can’t help thinking that this tragedy might
have been averted had the window been securely
guarded and covered by the alarm system. There
are some things that insurance can’t cover,
perhaps now is the time to have a careful
rethink about how well protected your loved ones
are – regret is an ugly thing to have to live
with.
Umhlanga
Rocks, Westridge Road. Armed Robbery -
Residential (15 February 2011, 6:09:50) Suspects jammed the lock on a wooden
pedestrian gate with a small stone to prevent
the door from locking. Six black males armed
with a firearm and knives entered the house
through an unlocked sliding kitchen door and
chased the resident's daughter-in-law upstairs.
The suspects held up the family and assaulted
the resident’s wife and son. An unknown amount
of cash, jewellery, credit cards, cell phones, a
safe and flat screen TV were stolen. A neighbour
reported that the suspects fled in a white
Toyota Tazz, registration ND:36575.
Berea,
Berea Road. Armed Robbery - Business (21
February 2011, 7:21:00) Three black males armed with knives
confronted a manager while he was delivering
cash to the premises from another business
branch. The suspects stabbed the manager three
times and fled with the cash.
Glenwood,
Bulwer Road. Armed Robbery - Business (21
February 2011, 9:34:32) Three black males walked into the shop
and purchased a packet of cigarettes. The
suspects then pulled out a firearm and pointed
it at the manager. They tied him up with cable
ties and a belt and stole a Fossil watch, an
iPhone, and a wallet containing cash and bank
cards. The suspects then stole cash from a till,
from a small safe in the kitchen, from a petty
cash box above the safe and an undisclosed
amount of cash for staff wages.
Sarnia,
Underwood Road. Armed Robbery - Business (21
February 2011, 15:08:25) Four black males armed with firearms
walked into the shop, held up the cashiers and
robbed the tills of an unknown amount of cash.
Two cell phones were also stolen. The suspects
fled in a gold Toyota Tazz, registration NPN
74289.
New
Germany, Blofield Road. Gatecrashing -
Residential (15 February 2011, 8:22:01) Suspects derailed the driveway gate and
forced open an unsecured lounge window. A
computer screen was stolen.
Waterfall,
Mpushini Road. Gatecrashing - Residential (16
February 2011, 9:46:45) Suspects forced open the driveway gate,
the lounge door and security gate. Two bedrooms
were ransacked and a plasma screen TV and
surround sound were stolen.
Foresthills,
Watsonia Place. Gatecrashing- Residential (16
February 2011, 12:11:34) Suspects derailed the driveway gate and
forced open a wooden double door and security
gate. A flatscreen TV and home theatre system
were stolen.
Westville,
Iver Road. Gatecrashing - Residential (16
February 2011, 18:12:15) Suspects cut the lock on the front gate
and pulled the arms off the gate and forced open
the front door. A plasma screen TV, camera and
jewellery were stolen.
Foresthills,
Forest Drive. Gatecrashing - Residential (16
February 2011, 12:04:52) Suspects derailed the driveway gate and
forced open the front door and security gate. A
computer was stolen.
Westville,
Struan Avenue. Gatecrashing - Residential (17
February 2011, 12:30:06) Suspects derailed the driveway gate and
forced open the front door and security gate.
The premises were ransacked and it was not clear
at the time what had been stolen.
Westville,
Beaconfield Road. Gatecrashing - Residential (21
February 2011, 11:26:00) Suspects derailed the driveway gate and
forced open the front door and security gate. A
microwave oven was stolen.
Hillary,
Bellmuir Road. Housebreaking - Residential (15
February 2011, 20:21:42) Suspects forced open two side windows,
a bathroom window and a back bedroom door. The
house was ransacked and it was not clear at the
time what was stolen.
Clare
Estate, Wandsbeck Road. Housebreaking -
Residential (16 February 2011, 10:13:55) Suspects forced open the front door and
security gate to a cottage on the premises. A TV
and an unknown quantity of cash and jewellery
were stolen.
La
Lucia, Old Brush Road. Housebreaking -
Residential (16 February 2011, 12:15:05) Suspects forced open a window and
burglar guard at the top of a staircase leading
to a downstairs office. A laptop, modem and
memory stick were stolen.
Amanzimtoti,
Whitfied Drive. Housebreaking - Residential (16
February 2011, 16:55:47) Suspects gained entry to a cottage on
the premises by forcing open the back door and
security gate. A 40" plasma screen TV and a
PlayStation were stolen.
Glenwood,
Chelmsford Road. Housebreaking - Residential (16
February 2011, 20:04:59) Suspects forced open the garage door
and stole camping equipment.
Amanzimtoti,
Maple Road. Housebreaking - Residential (17
February 2011, 8:48:22) Suspects forced open a back window and
pushed in the burglar guard. A DVD player, a gym
bag and a cosmetic bag were stolen. A speaker
was recovered outside the house.
New
Germany, Blofield Road . Housebreaking -
Residential (21 February 2011, 17:11:23) Suspects removed the glass pane from a
bedroom window. A laptop and an unknown amount
of cash were stolen.
Greyville,
Avondale Road. Housebreaking - Business (15
February 2011, 10:17:21) Suspects forced open a window and
pushed in the burglar guard. A computer and cool
drinks were stolen.
Westmead,
Malcom Road. Housebreaking - Business (17
February 2011, 11:27:32) Suspects forced open a rear window and
burglar guard. A computer tower and a cell phone
were stolen.
Chatsworth,
Moorton Crescent. Housebreaking - Business (21
February 2011, 7:36:18) Suspects removed the panes of glass
from a louver window at the front of the
premises. A Radio / CD player and two boxes of
chicken were stolen.
Free chicken … and free sounds. Now
that’s Ayoba.
Morningside,
Mitchell Park Mansions. Theft – Residential
(19 February 2011, 7:01:32) A cell phone was fished through an open
bedroom window.
Assagay,
Chartwell Drive. Attempted Housebreaking / Theft
out of a motor vehicle - Residential (16
February 2011, 3:40:35) Suspects broke a front window and
attempted to force in the burglar guard but did
not gain entry to the house. The suspects then
broke into a Ford Fiesta parked in the yard and
stole a radio. The suspects fled when the car
alarm activated.
SUCCESSES
Amanzimtoti,
Beach Road. Gatecrashing / Attempted theft of
motor vehicles - Residential (17 February 2011,
5:21:42) Suspects derailed the driveway gate and
tampered with and damaged the lock on a white
Toyota Camry and a silver Honda Ballade parked
in the yard. Three coloured males fled in a
black BMW parked outside the premises when the
resident shouted at them.
Glen
Hills, Solandra Drive. Attempted housebreaking -
Residential (15 February 2011, 10:18:48) Suspects broke a window which activated
the alarm. A neighbour reported that four black
males fled in a black Citi Golf.
Security
System = 1 : Suspects = 0
Glenwood,
Crart Avenue. Attempted Housebreaking -
Residential (16 February 2011, 4:50:46) The Reaction Officer reported that a
white VW Fox, registration ND:197841, drove out
of the property on his arrival at the premises.
The suspects had attempted to gain access to the
house by cutting through a lock on a front
security gate and kicking in the bottom half of
a stable door. The suspects fled when the alarm
activated and nothing appeared to have been
stolen.
Security
System = 2 : Suspects = 0
Morningside,
Gordon & Florida Roads. Theft - Business (16
February 2011, 13:51:30) A Reaction Officer on patrol reports
being approached by members of the public to
assist them with apprehending a black male
suspected of shop lifting. The suspect was
apprehended and found to be in possession of two
T-shirts, three wallets and a bag stolen from Mr
Price in Windermere Centre. The suspect was
arrested by SAPS.
Attempted
theft where nothing was confirmed stolen: Assagay, Fraser Road (21 February 2011,
1:12:06)
Berea, Cochrane Place (16 February 2011,
19:17:12)
Durban North, Burleigh Crescent (16 February
2011, 13:19:32)
Durban North, Dorrington Crescent (19 February
2011, 18:23:48)
Glen Anil, Mopani Road (15 February 2011,
16:22:11)
Glen Hills, Harrison Drive (15 February 2011,
15:57:43)
New Germany, Berkshire Drive (19 February 2011,
4:38:38)
New Germany, Blair Atholl Road (22 February
2011, 3:37:40)
New Germany, Grey Place Unit C (16 February
2011, 8:14:50)
Umbilo, Umbilo Road (17 February 2011, 10:34:19)
Westville, Severn Drive (21 February 2011,
4:46:23)
LOSS
COUNT
Item
This
Week
Year
to Date
Audio /
Video / Games
4
35
Cell
Phone
6
37
Digital
Camera
1
4
Firearm
0
5
Laptop
Computer
2
22
TV LCD /
Plasma
7
43
Personal
Computer
4
43
Vehicle
0
4
That’s it from us for now. Stay
alert and stay safe.
The Blue Alert Team
Good
results from a hard working unit of the Westville SAPF - 14
February 2011
Over the last week including the weekend, Westville SAPS
Detectives made a total of 18 (eighteen) arrests.
Several of the most predominant ones were for housebreaking,
assault, fraud and theft.
In total, they also recovered over R20 000 worth of property
including jewelry, cash and other items.
Good work to them, keep it up.
Cst SD Clark
This excellent work should not go
un-noticed. We really do have a good team of dedicated members at
Westville SAPF.
My laptop
died
There was no moment of silence, rather a screaming rage that caused
the rest of the station to wonder what gorilla with an ingrown toenail
had been let loose.
I struggled for months trying to revive the thing, but eventually,
even some keys stopped working so I bgan typng a bt lik ths.
Painful. Being Communications Officer and really needing a computer to
work on didnt help either. Unfortunately the old desktop computer the
CPF had donated several years back was in a similar state. The monitor
being so fuzzy I got a headache after five minutes work.
Enter Roger Day of the Westville Community Policing Forum. Roger is a
very quiet guy so was a bit disturbed at my daily ranting and raving
about being incapable of doing any level of quality work. He scouted
around and got me in touch with a very kind man, Iain Emerson, at Network Configurations in Westville.
Without a moment's hesitation, Iain promised to find and sponsor me a
laptop and, sure enough, I fetched it this week Monday.
I am truly indebted and in sincere thanks to Roger and especially Iain
for their kindness and dedication to the SAPS and willingness to help
wherever they could.
I'm back! No rage, no ingrown toenails and even most of the silver fur has gone.
It was a small reminder that there are community members and businesses out there who are ready to
embrace the ideals of public support and freely contribute to the efficiency of the Police.
Cst Stephen
Clark
SAPS Westville
Communications
Dlamini Arrest
On Thursday 3 February 2011 pure dedication and devotion to the job netted a housebreaker minutes after he had struck.
A homeowner in Baden Rd Berea West investigated a noise and disturbed two suspects in his house. They had managed to grab his wallet off a table and fled the scene. The complainant phoned the Westville SAPS and Crime Prevention members responded immediately. Instead of rushing to the scene, the one place the criminals were not, they proceeded down Nala road into Chesterville, the natural escape route from across the N3 freeway.
The footpath that leads down from the Pavilion splits into several paths so the police members did the same at the base of the hill. Constable Dlamini of Westville SAPS struck gold when he spotted the suspect on “his” path. The bad guy ran but didn’t count on the fact that he was already a bit tired and Cst Dlamini a very fit young policeman.
A short foot chase later the criminal was in handcuffs and the stolen wallet recovered. What of the second suspect. His arrest came from a surprising source. A passing ER 24 ambulance spotted him dodging traffic crossing the N3. Not too concerned for his health, they knew he was up to something and grabbed him.
Well done to everybody involved in the quick success.
Cst Stephen
Clark
SAPS Westville
Communications
Elderly lady robbed and assaulted
- 26 January 2011
This past weekend in Westville a nasty incident occurred. An elderly lady of eighty years old went outside her home to investigate a noise when she was accosted by two black males in their twenties. They did threaten her with any weapons, but aggressively pushed her around and forced her into her bedroom and onto the bed. Very fortunately they did not do anything further to her but locked the lady in the room.
She could hear the two criminals scratching through her belongings and after some time they left. Credit to our senior citizen for remaining calm and once she was sure the duo had left she managed to force open one of her burglar guards, squeeze through the window and go to a neighbour for help. SAPS response was swift, a case of House Robbery was opened, Open Door Crisis Centre was contacted and a councillor was dispatched to assist the brave survivor with the trauma she experienced.
A quantity of jewellery was stolen along with other items; the elderly lady was left unharmed but shaken from her experience. Westville SAPS detectives have taken up the case, are thoroughly investigating the crime and hope to make an arrest.
Captain S. Buckthorpe of the Westville SAPS Detective Branch is appealing to anyone who may have information in this case to contact her on 031-2677 372. The SAPS further advise all community members in Westville especially senior citizens to be extra vigilant and be aware of their surroundings. Do not take anything for granted. Keep security gates locked at all times and keep emergency telephone numbers and panic buttons where you can find them.
Criminals have no respect for the elderly, so if you live with a senior citizen or have one living on your property, please take extra good care of them.
Cst Stephen Clark
SAPS Westville
Communications
The
following article is not new though to many the knowledge of such
is a devastating revelation. We thank The Naked Truth for
permission to publish this article on the drug whoonga
New drug Whooga! hits Durban townships
A new drug has arrived in townships surrounding the city of Durban, South Africa. Highly addictive, the drug leaves many users in debt and family members anxious for a solution.
Whoonga, usually smoked, is a mixture of various substances including HIV medications called
anti-retrovirals (ARVs), rat poison, and detergent. The drug is said to be one of the most addictive in the world; users can become hooked after the first try and often experience withdrawal symptoms after the first hit.
"Most people find it hard to believe that one smoke is all it takes and you are hooked," Gwala
Vumani, Director of Project Whoonga said in an interview with
MediaGlobal.
After taking the drugs, individuals become anxious and aggressive, and may suffer from various pains including but not limited to back pain, excessive sweating, headache, and potentially deadly stomach cramps. "All symptoms can be cured by a single dose every time," Vumani informed.
Each dose costs about R20, and individuals addicted to the drug require about 6 doses every day. "If you are unemployed, this is a high price to pay," said
Vumani. It is especially high since 40 percent of the people in South Africa live on less than
R15 a day. "However, users find the pain associated with Whoonga unbearable, and resort to committing petty crimes to feed their addiction."
Once this pattern begins, it's hard to stop. "What do you do when you cannot continue to commit reckless offenses to feed your addiction? People find it easier to get free doses of anti-retroviral drugs than to pay their way through crime," she said.
The South African government's anti-retroviral policy allows all HIV positive people to gain access to the antiretroviral treatment for free. In some instances users are deliberately trying to infect themselves with HIV to receive the free medication, Vumani said.
While users may see this as a quick fix, Clair Savage, senior information officer at
SANCA, told MediaGlobal,"To deliberately get infected and accelerate the disease procession so that one's CD4 count made one eligible for ARVs would be a long process, which would not bring the quick fix most dependents crave. However, this is not to say it doesn't happen."
She explained that all drug dependents become focused on getting the high the drug gives them and relationships, work, and other interested are severely affected. It becomes the most important thing in their lives.
Although lives of users are being taken over by Whoonga, people find it difficult to quit because of the pains that come with ending use. Lack of information about Whoonga has resulted in more and more people engaging themselves without realizing what they are getting themselves into.
There are varying experiences when taking Whoonga, but those who use it say they feel like the best people ever. Others feel at peace, and some reported it helped them sleep. While these may be the initial reasons to begin taking the drug, the withdrawal seems to be so severe that the unpleasantness is what keeps them using again and again.
"This drug has turned our beloved township into a jungle. Families with addicts live in constant fear of vigilantes that threaten to get rid of this crime using violence and families have gotten their homes burned down," Vumani lamented.
It is tragic that the communities most affected by this abuse are also trying to deal with the challenges of unemployment, poverty, and HIV/AIDS, said Savage. "I am concerned about the emotional toll that drug abuse exacts as well as challenges and these folk may lack the resources to significantly change what is happening."
While the drug became popular only about a year ago, authorities believe users have increased by thousands in the past year and use is likely to spread without intervention.
"Whoonga is a huge setback in the fight against HIV/AIDS," said
Vumani, and Project Whoonga is focused on ending the use of the drug. Helping those struggling with addiction to this drug, Project Whoonga helps identify, motivate, and rehabilitate users and reintegrate them back into the community.
- Sourced from article in The Naked Truth
- Link to article:
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Easter Eggs for
underprivileged children in Wentworth, his new Station. At Westville,
we decided that we were going to go the whole hog and collect for our
own needy community as well. After my appeal, the response from
Schools, Business and private individuals was tremendous.
Over the past weekend, Constables Kathi and Mlambo arrested three wanted criminals. They
were charged for housebreaking and theft and will appear in court soon. Bail will be opposed as the trio will have either existing warrants out for them or because they are linked to several cases. In either way, the next few months will see them shuffling from court to prison to court awaiting trial. Good work guys, keep it up.
The
following article is not new though to many the knowledge of such
is a devastating revelation. We thank The Naked Truth for
permission to publish this article on the drug whoonga