Robberies, fraud, burglaries and theft out of vehicles remain a top priority for Table View police said Lieutenant Colonel Hendrik Nel at the public meeting, held at the Bloubergrant High School Hall last Thursday.
Lieutenant Colonel Nel and his wife, Lieutenant Colonel Christa Nel, boasted about the station’s arrests for April, but residents wanted to know why the police station was still short of staff and resources.
Just over 30 people attended the meeting.
The station commander said they were working around the clock and with Milnerton police, community groups, the community police forum and security companies to provide the best service possible and there had been a sharp drop in contact crimes in the precinct.
The Table View precinct has three sectors: Sector 1 includes Bloubergstrand, Big Bay, Blouberg Sands, Bloubergrant, West Beach, Blouberg Rise and Waves Edge. Sector 2 is Parklands and Sunningdale. Sector 3 is Table View, Sunridge, West Riding, Flamingo Vlei and Doornbach (Site 5).
The informal settlements were the “main contributor” to the rising crime statistics for April, the station commander said.
The station used the stats to determine where to patrol, he said, noting that for the past month burglaries had been common in Blouberg Road on Wednesday nights, and in many other parts of the precinct, theft out of vehicles was common on Sundays.
But those at the meeting quickly started chatting loudly among themselves, and one man could be heard saying, “What about the other areas?”
A resident, Monica Berkley, said that while one police van was patrolling the area, night clubs and taverns at the Parkwest Shopping Centre remained a concern for nearby residents.
“The parties carry on till 4am in the morning. Then there are people fighting and nearly killing one another outside, but I have never seen a police vehicle patrol there.”
Ward 113 councillor Joy Solomon asked whether there was still “1 policeman for 1100 residents” in the area, and said she hoped the census would prove how the population in Table View had doubled.
“In my opinion, police stations are deliberately being under resourced,” she said.
The station commander said the police were doing the best they could with the resources available to them.
Lieutenant Colonel Christa Nel encouraged residents to report all crimes to the station. Phone the Table View police station at 021 521 3300.
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