Richardsbay violent crimes have residents up in arms: lose faith in policing-abilities

Residents losing faith in police: Richards Bay cops face crowd anger at Arboretum VeldEnVlei CPF meeting October 3 2014: The crime crisis in Richards Bay Arboretum attracted almost 500 residents of Arboretum and Veldenvlei at the Arbovlei CPF meeting, the Zululand Observer reports. Pic:Concern is etched on the faces of the many residents of crime-ridden Arboretum and Veldenvlei who attended the Arbovlei CPF meeting on Thursday PHOTO: Dave Savides THE capacity of police to fight crime in Richards Bay came under severe attack at a mass meeting of angry and concerned residents of Arboretum and Veldenvlei on Thursday night. The gathering was called by the Arbovlei Community Policing Forum, in the light of a number of serious and violent crimes in the suburbs over the past month. This includes a lone gunman who remains on the loose after shooting three people, one fatally, and a knife-wielding gang responsible for bloody attacks in residents’ homes. More than 400 people who filled the Veldenvlei Primary School hall soon made it known that they were not interested in listening to crime statistics: they wanted answers on what was being done and why arrests had not been made. SAP representatives battled to make themselves heard over continued interjections from the crowd, who expressed anger at poor police response times after reported incidents, and unconcerned attitudes at the police station itself. Many said they had lost faith in the ability of the police to protect their homes and families. Reassurances that crime was ‘under control’ and that vehicles numbers and manpower were adequate, were met with derision – a few in the audience suggesting that ‘we must take the law into our own hands’. Unreliable census numbers, which determine allocations at police stations, were also condemned. -- The dust settled after Business Against Crime Manager and Police Reservist Col Dave Whittaker calmed the situation and explained steps currently being taken to ease the crime situation. These include the establishing and deployment of a specialised task team, augmented by the SAP K9 Unit, Operational Response Services, Public Order Policing Unit and security companies. The City of uMhlathuze (where?) has offered the use of its contracted security companies while its Community Safety Forum is being revived and the CCTV camera surveillance system is back on the table. The Richards Bay CPF is also trying to facilitate the return of the Community Safety Patrols, which saw (paid or unpaid?) security guards on bicycles make a major decrease in crime in the city. Whittaker urged the establishment of phone and online ‘warning groups’, as well as the formation of (unpaid) street patrols and (unpaid)neighbourhood watches. https://www.facebook.com/boerekrisisaksie/photos/a.178568022169751.48293.116298045063416/970008993025646/?type=1&theater http://www.censorbugbear.org/farmitracker/search?k=Richards+Bay+Arboretum&b=Search August 2014 Richards Bay Pierre de Lange shot dead http://www.censorbugbear.org/farmitracker/reports/view/1328 Richards Bay ten-member Roestorff Kruger Costa family attacked by black gunmen at dinner time: http://www.censorbugbear.org/farmitracker/reports/view/1328