Date posted: April 10, 2017
Dear Neighbours,As this newsletter was about to be sent out, news came of an incident involving a confrontation with a knife-wielding housebreaker in the early hours of 9 April, in a property on Pine Rd, opposite the Red Herring Centre. Although the house is usually well alarmed and the owners are active radio users, a house-sitter looking after the house had not activated any of the security measures. After hearing an intrusion, he ended up in a confrontation with the intruders, one of whom had reportedly drawn a knife. Fortunately he was able to subdue this man, who was subsequently arrested but his accomplice escaped.
This close shave only serves to reinforce the message in the original newsletter, which continues below…
Surge in Incidents
A surge of recent incidents would seem to suggest that we have become an area of interest to a certain criminal element. Whilst there is no strong evidence that any of the events are related, many of the recent incidents seem to suggest a pattern involving at least one group of young men in operation, possibly entering and leaving the neighbourhood via the beach area:
- Three young males were seen crawling through bushes at the end of Willow Rd on 23 March, they fled down the horse path to the Beach when confronted.
- On 25 March the NRA Main Building and the Judge’s Hut were broken into in what seemed to be a crude and brazen fashion, involving the smashing of windows.
- On the night of 28 March a group tried, unsuccessfully, to steal items from a building site and threw stones at the security guard there.
- On the night of 30 March the window of a car parked in Poplar Rd was smashed and contents were removed from its glove compartment..
- Tyres were set alight at the sports field on the night of 7 April
There has also been news of a couple of home invasions, as well as of attacks on hikers and on cyclists in neighbouring areas.
Communication and Vigilance
It is thus imperative that we all use all of these events to remind ourselves of the importance of vigilance and of communication with one another! Most of us have a tendency to want to slack off a little and simply enjoy the low-crime atmosphere that our neighbourhood is generally able to provide - but from time to time we need to all work a little but harder to secure that.
So please make a point of checking your property for vulnerabilities, either in the form of break-in opportunities, or of items available for pilfering, and remind everyone in the family about security measures! If you are not in a connectors group with neighbours please make this the moment you set one up (contact Lynne at lchogan@netactive.co.za for help), if you have a radio please make sure that it is working and on standby on Channel 8 whenever possible. If you would like to get a radio, please contact Craig via our website (www.cpnw.org.za).
Our experience has been that if we can send out a strong message about security in our neighbourhood at a time like this, crime levels drop again dramatically - but the converse is potentially also the case. This message can take in the form of cars in the streets and houses lighting up when the alarm is raised, and it can also be made present in the sense of few opportunities and plenty of watching eyes in the area - but the more we make it clear that we will work together to keep our neighbourhood safe, the better our chances of stopping further crime.
Community Hall
On the positive side, work at the Community Hall is progressing well, thanks in particular to the coordinating efforts of Patty Fennel! As we are starting to use the building more and more, an urgent priority is to plan and develop the parking area in a way that maximises the use of space. We also need someone to help with general cleaning work. If anyone is able to assist with either of these, please let Patty know: pattyf@webafrica.org.za .
Wishing you all a safe month!
The CPNW Committee
Interested in a radio please.
Can be contacted on 061 067 2247
Many thanks