Date posted: August 8, 2024
Dear Neighbours,We hope everyone is warm and dry after a dramatic few weeks of winter!
Car-jamming Incident
It has been relatively quiet from the crime perspective, with just a single incident to report since the last newsletter. On 27 June, at approximately 10.30am, there was another car-jamming incident at the beach parking lot, in which a laptop, cell phone, tog bag and two wallets were reported stolen. Fortunately, we were able to find good camera evidence of the incident along with the perpetrator’s car and registration number, which the victims then provided to the police.
Car Guards
There had been no car-guards at the parking area at the time. We have noted concerns for some time about the regularity and reliability of car-guard services at the beach parking area. This service is funded primarily by donations from those parking there, under a rather loose oversight arrangement with SANParks with some input from CPNW. This arrangement has become even more tenuous of late for various reasons, including car break-ins and fewer people carrying cash nowadays. We are therefore developing a new project to try to improve security at the beach parking lot, at least during peak times, and work more closely with the car-guards.
Successful Prosecution
In some good news, we can report that the man who was apprehended after stealing a bicycle in Erica Rd had his day in court and received a three-year sentence after his prior criminal record was noted. He reportedly pleaded ‘not-guilty’ initially but changed his plea to ‘guilty’ after noting the arrival of the prosecuting officer. According to the bicycle owner, perpetrators in such cases commonly plead ‘not-guilty’ and are then repeatedly released because the complainants so seldom follow up with charges. This is a common theme we are hearing from police officers.
We are thus very grateful to the bicycle owner for pressing charges and providing the required evidence. The provision of useful evidence by CPNW combined with the active pursuit of cases by crime victims fosters a strong and useful relationship with SAPS and also reduces the attractiveness of our area as a target for criminals.
Committee - Update
We very gratefully welcome Rob Graham and Carol-Ann Stegen, who attended our last Committee Meeting to offer their help, and hope everyone will support them in working on the Beach Parking Project. We are also grateful to Michelle MacDevette, who has offered to help Karen with the Community Centre, and to the several new recruits to our Response Team!
One of CPNW’s key principles is that multidimensional approaches that also build a stronger community are critical to our safety and security. Hence, we have steadily developed an ever-widening range of strategies and know there are many more opportunities out there! However, the success of each strategy requires specialised focus, energy and time that is often beyond what a single committee member can reasonably offer.
Projects
Hence, we try to divide these into individual projects which, where possible, become the responsibility of an individual committee member, who is ideally then supported by a small group of volunteers. A great advantage of such a system is that it allows us to all contribute to neighbourhood security in different ways according to our interests and abilities, even if we never imagined ourselves as crime fighting heroes!
A few key projects we could always use help with include:
- Crime Reporting and Crime Data Management
- Media Management
- Membership Database Management
- Camera Project
- Radio Users Project
- Response Team
- Parking Area Security
- Community Connectors
- Security Company Liaison
- SAPS and CPF Liaison
- Voluntary Fire Unit
- Social Security Project
In addition, there are several important things we would love to do but don’t currently have the capacity for. These include developing a more comprehensive Beach Security Plan with SANParks and other players, establishing a Drone Response Unit, developing a system to engage with all who regularly enter the area to work, and establishing a Virtual Patrolling Network to continually monitor our streets as we expand our camera roll out. There are, no doubt, plenty of other good ideas out there to be identified and developed, so we can always use more hands on deck!
If any of these areas spark your interest, please let us know! It really helps if you are specific about what you’d prefer to focus on, so we can then connect you to a committee member involved in that project. If you would first like to find out more, please come along to our next committee meeting and we can take it from there.
Our next few meetings will take place as follows: Monday evenings, Noordhoek Community Centre at 18h00: 12 August, 9 September and 14 October.
Thanks – Donations!
We also note with huge appreciation the steady stream of donations from members, including neighbours linking up to pay for street cameras and local individuals regularly donating over and above the R30 monthly contributions paid by so many of you!
Vehicle-related Crime
Finally, we draw your attention to the concerning increase in reports of both vehicle thefts and thefts from vehicles throughout the South Peninsula! Please be very careful about leaving valuables in your car, and stay alert to the unsafe parking areas throughout the Peninsula.
Wishing you all a safe and hopefully warmer month of August!
The CPNW Committee.
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