CPNW NEWSLETTER – 25 MARCH 2018

Date posted: March 25, 2018

Dear Neighbours

Crime Update

Since our last newsletter we are aware of at least six incidents in our area. Of note is a concentration of break-ins in the Beach/Mountain Rd area:

• In the early hours of 3 March, via a window with the theft of a laptop and other valuables. A radio call was made shortly after the break-in immediately, with a rapid response from the 2 ADT vehicles supported by a small number of responders. An ensuing search of the mountainside above the house lasted into the daylight hours, no further trace of the burglars was found.


• At an even earlier time in the morning of 15 March, residents were up and about for other reasons and had put on some lights, when the heard a minor disturbance outside but did not investigate. In  the morning however they noticed that their wheelie had been opened and various garden implements had been moved out of their shed but had been left in the garden.


• We were also informed via SASDP of two thefts from rooms that were left unlocked in Monkey Valley.

Equestrian Theft Syndicate?

On 27 February, a garage in Protea Road was broken into and a large amount of goods, including saddles and other riding equipment, a generator and bicycles were removed. This is the latest in an ongoing trend involving break-ins to buildings associated equestrian activity and it would seem that there is a syndicate operating that specialises in riding equipment and additionally seems to involve individuals who are comfortable around animals.

The perpetrators appear to be using a vehicle to transport the heavier goods although tracks of the stolen bicycles were traced going across the wetlands and towards Masiphumelele.

We are also aware of a vehicle break-ins in Protea Rd on 21 February.

Specialised Tactical-Response Team

As mentioned in our last newsletter, we were able to secure the presence of a specialised tactical-response team from Fidelity-ADT at the beach for another month and they will remain in place until early April. We are pleased to announce that, in collaboration with Komwatch members, they were instrumental in securing the arrest of a suspect who was wanted in connection with some of the attacks last year.

We are pleased to note that there have been no further attacks and we do feel this is largely due to the presence of this team, who have, on a regular basis, intercepted suspicious-looking visitors to the beach and removed weaponry. Although Komwatch were unable to support funding for this month and have had to attend to more local issues after a surge in break-ins in their own area, we had fortunately received enough donations to sustain the initiative for another month, with the remainder of the funds that were donated for this purpose, so a big thank you to everyone for your support!

Beach Security into the Future

Both the CPNW and KomWatch Committees have however, struggled to take on the responsibility for ensuring security on the Beach in addition to fulfilling our local mandates and this is not something we are able to sustain. We are thus very pleased that a number of individuals who are passionate about beach safety have come forward with initiatives to make the Beach safe again. These will involve signage, safety equipment and mobile, higher-visibility patrolling as well as the back-up of more specialised response-team members, whom we hope to also be able to engage on a longer-term basis as a further level of support for local neighbourhood watches in the event of a crime surge.

Needless to say, these initiatives will need ongoing funding if they are to succeed and, as much as we do not feel that this kind of security should, ideally be reliant on funding from communities, our honest assessment of current levels of incapacity is that this is the only way we are going to keep our beach safe in the short to medium-term.

SANParks, SAPS, City, Province

There are nevertheless also ongoing engagements with SANParks, SAPS and the City and Provincial Government representatives, particularly in the wake of the recent murder of a mountain biker and we will continue to assert our communities' rights to far better services than we are currently receiving.

On that note, we must, once more stress to everyone the importance of reporting all crime to SAPS as the allocation of SAPS members to precincts is based on crime statistics collected by stations, so when we don't report we are also playing a role in the understaffing of our local SAPS. Sadly, there has also been a need to report cases to a higher level, when services have not been up to a required standard and we would encourage members to make use of the Western Cape Police Ombud, as well as the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) in this regard.

If you're leaving…

Lastly, we have noted that there are a number of houses on sale in the area so here is a little reminder to those who may have a radio and are leaving the area.  Please advise us if you are selling the radio on to the next owner of your property or if you intend taking it with you. If the former, then please make sure that the new owners register with CPNW before letting them have the radio.  If the latter, then you need to get it to us so it can be de-programmed.  CPNW is obliged, by law, to keep track of all radios sold that have the CPNW frequency installed.

Wishing you all a safe month and pleasant Easter Holidays!

The CPNW Committee