City Bowl Armed Response

Dear Valued CBAR clients,

According to the latest crime stats released by   the South African Police Service, there have been double digit increases in most of the crime categories for the period of April 2021 to June 2021.

Also;

• 66.2% increase in the murder rate for the first quarter of the year.
• 60.7% increase in contact crimes such as murder, attempted murder, sexual assault and categories of assault for the same period.
• An astounding 92% increase in house robberies, hijackings and business robberies.
• Residential burglaries have risen by 21.5%.

Police minister Bheki Cele has stated that crime figures covering the first quarter of the 2021/22 financial year (April to June 2021) are greatly inflated due to the state of lockdown in South Africa when compared to the last comparable quarter.

(*Some information courtesy of BusinessTech)

Even if we factor in various lockdown levels in 2020 and draw comparison with 2019 stats, the crime trends are still excessively high and reason for concern.  During lockdown and in particular the first few months, CBAR noticed an influx of displaced persons in large numbers in its area of operation.  Our own stats have shown an increase in opportunistic crime as well as theft out of motor vehicle and house break-ins.

Living within the groups of displaced persons are a number of hardened criminals who have been paroled as well as those who have chosen to escape from gang ridden areas to instead move into suburbs in upmarket areas.

As previously corresponded, there are also organised criminal gangs known to SAPS, Law Enforcement and other security service providers.  We have advised our clients to be super vigilant and aware that properties bordering Table Mountain National Park have been hardest hit by house robberies and boundary fences should be checked daily for tampering.

Insurance companies, who are also having more claims submitted due to an increase in loss by their clients through all forms of crime, have advised South Africans to “safeguard themselves as thoroughly as their means allow”.

TIPS TO BETTER SECURE YOUR PROPERTY INCLUDED:

• Having a good perimeter wall or quality palisade fence as a 1^st line of property defence. Ensuring all trees close to these boundary walls or fences are trimmed so as to deny easy access into the property.

• All access gates and garage doors should be of a good or sturdy design and remotely operated to open and close with as little delay as possible.  Anti-lift brackets should be installed on all sliding gates so as to prevent them being lifted off their tracks with a crowbar.  More recently, there seems to a return to this type of crime again.

• Installing an electric fence on top of a wall or palisade fence does offer another layer of security.  The electric fence should also be linked to your alarm system so that our Monitoring Centre receives a signal if it is tampered with.  Where electric fencing is installed on top of vibracrete walls in particular, the criminals tend to quietly break one or two of the precast concrete panels without interfering with the electric fence on top.  Plastic forks or branches are used to lift up the electric wire strands, allowing criminals to squeeze under the wiring.  Add some spikes on top of the wall to prevent creating a space for stepping over the electric fence strands. (as shown above)

• Alarm systems should give you infra-red detection inside and outside your home adding the next layer of security to your property.  Ideally your alarm should have 2 settings.  An AWAY mode, which arms your entire alarm system inside and out, when you leave the property, and a STAY mode for when you are at home.  This STAY mode, for when you are home, will allow you to move within certain areas while specific beams, particularly outdoor sensors in vulnerable areas will be armed.

Our technical department would be happy to assist in advising you on an appropriate alarm setup to match your living arrangements.

• Having dogs, especially those that sleep indoors have been proven to alert home owners to intrusions that may be in progress. Larger dogs that are visible to the street during the day, when potential criminals are wondering the streets, are ranked as a major deterrent.

• Burglar bars still offer a degree of protection, as long as they are not the cheap DIY ones, held in place with small screws into a wooden window frame.  The bars should be a recognised SABS type or custom-made ornate bars, ideally set into the brick work.

• CCTV has evolved dramatically over the past decade, becoming more affordable, more user friendly and with a higher quality camera resolution.  Cameras may be monitored in your hand on your Smartphone or on a PC.  CCTV allows you to keep an eye on your property via an App or through an offsite monitoring company (for a fee).

Footage can be used to view the criminals who have entered the property or fed to an Armed Response Company such as CBAR in real time, and who will be on scene within minutes of being dispatched.

• Install a Masterlock key safe outside your premises, so that CBAR reaction officers can access a key or remote with a combination that you have chosen.  CBAR installs these key safes if you require a quote.

• It is important to remember that money spent upgrading your security is a good investment in the safe keeping of your assets as well as the safety of your family.

DO NOT ENTER!

Please remember that should you be called out to a premises to give access to an Armed Reaction Officer as a key holder, we request that you DO NOT enter the premises alongside our CBAR officers.

Allow our trained staff to thoroughly check the premises and surrounds before entering the premises, especially if our Monitoring Centre has detected multiple zone activations which generally indicates movement on the property.

Where visible confirmation is given via CCTV of intruders, CBAR will dispatch multiple reaction vehicles to attend the scene.

We strongly request that only once a premises has been declared safe and clear by the officers, that the owner or key holder then inspect the premises further.

Lastly, as summer approaches, the gale force South Easterly winds will return causing foliage that has grown in or near outdoor detectors to cause unnecessary alarm activations.  This results in resources being sent out multiple times to false alarms, diverting Reaction staff away from positive activations and slowing down the rate of service.  Kindly trim all excess foliage near outdoor detectors that may be causing continuous false alarms.

VISIT our web-site on www.cbar.co.za for all our stats.

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Stay safe, CBAR is a call away!

Yours sincerely

Alan Kusevitsky and the CBAR team