Robbery has taken another dimension in South Africa since hoodlums can now dress up as law enforcement agents and dupe people of their hard earned money and property. Rubenstein Drive, Moreleta Park witnessed a case of attempted hijacking and the eyewitness recorded the distasteful event on her mobile phone which she shared on YouTube.
From the video, the criminals were in a white BMW hatchback and were posing as police officers in official police uniforms. They, however, were coercing both the driver and his passenger out of a black BMW X5 SUV as if they had actually committed a crime and were about to be either searched or arrested.
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The driver seemed to have understood the plan faster than they thought as a struggle ensued between them. After a brief struggle between the driver and the hijackers, he was forced to enter the white BMW car while one of the hijackers gained access into the driver’s seat of the black X5 they intended to hijack. However, the driver of the black X5 managed to escape from the white BMW where they had wanted to stuff him.
According to the police spokesperson; Dave Miller, the hijack was unsuccessful and the culprits fired 2 shots as they were fleeing from the scene but no injuries were reported.
Paramedics nevertheless, attended to an eyewitness who was at the scene and was treated for shock according to Netcare 911 spokesperson, Santi Steinmann.
In Tembisa, an abandoned vehicle believed to be from the not-so-successful hijacking was later retrieved shortly after the robbers fled the scene.
Other items recovered from the vehicle included police bulletproof vests, two R5 rifles, reflector jackets and a blue light. These are believed to be a part of the collection of items which the robbers use on a daily basis to dress like law enforcement officials and dupe people of their cars.
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The Latest Crime Trend In South Africa
The crime rate in South Africa seems to be increasing and these days, criminals seem to have easy access to every material that would help them disguise as official police on duty.
Security company Fidelity ADT collected security data in 2017 to know the latest crime trends in South Africa. The company found not only the latest crime trends but also, the average crime rate every month in their study.
According to the report, below are the monthly averages of crime alerts excluding false alarm:
- Arm robbery – 98
- Robbery – 15
- Housebreaking and Theft – 426
- Hijacking – 7
- Shooting – 4
The company also revealed the days of the week which crime tends to increase, stating that all types of crimes noticeably increase from Wednesday through to Sunday, with Mondays and Tuesdays being more crime free.
The study also concluded that arm robberies are most common between noon and midnight with little increase between 12:00 and 18:00. Hijackings and theft usually happen in the early morning and also in the early evening. On the other hand, house break-ins and theft happen from midnight to noon (this may not be absolutely true since locals most of the times notice break-ins in the morning and as such only report the crime after it had happened)
Fidelity ADT also categorized crime trends into two including serious and other incidents. Serious incidents are all incidents where a weapon is used such as hijacking, arm robbery, shootings while other incidents involve minor weapons like sticks etc. Thus, the latest crime trends in South Africa is serious since arm robbery is dramatically on the increase.
Fidelity ADT discovered that while the total number of incidents were more or less the same across Gauteng and the Western Cape, there was a margin in the number of serious incidents between the two territories.
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Fidelity ADT is a big South African security company with more than 370,000 customers, about 30 percent of market share in the country and more than 10 percent geographical coverage.
At a time when criminals have access to every material that would help them disguise as official policemen on duty, what chance does the public have of staying safe? Let us know what you think on our Facebook page.
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