By Kouthar Sambo

Crime in the Western Cape has reached high levels, particularly gang-related, as media reports indicated a spike in high jackings to construction mafias and extortions.

The Institute for Security Studies has helped design an evidence-based intervention piloted in the Tafelsig area on visible policing, which has seen levels of crime declining by 20%.

Speaking on VOC’s Drive Time show on Monday, Senior Researcher of the Justice and Violence Prevention Programme at the Institute for Security Studies, Anine Kriegler, said that “hotspot policing” means being in the places that need police presence the most.

“Though all communities need policing attention, there are certain places with high levels of violent crime and community harm, and that is where we need to put our resources for efficiency,” explained Kriegler.

“There are many in the police toolbox on reducing crime, and one of them is physical police presence where public members can see them on the ground, patrolling,” added Kriegler.

The idea is to find the places with the highest concentration of violent crime, said Kriegler, work out the predictable times of the crime, and target that area as accurately as possible.

According to Kriegler, a team of 30 people convened to discuss the best way forward on how to approach the matter in terms of area targets.

“We ended up targeting Tafelsig East in Mitchells Plain, and the 20% reduction in crime seems very promising. But we need to know if it can be scaled up – because no police station only has one hospital – and maintained over time,” reiterated Kriegler.

“And since the police presence was so successful, we are hopefully going to expand it to four new station areas in Cape Town. It is still a preliminary list, as things may change, but we are looking to target Delft, Khayelitsha, Nyanga, and Gugulethu,” clarified Kriegler.

Photo: VOCfm