17/12/2012
CRIME RATE DROPS AS COPS PICK UP PACE
Michelle Crawford: Two weeks into the busy holiday season and the coast has not yet seen any serious incidents on the crime front.
There have been several infringements with respect to traffic offences, but no major incidents such as r**e or murder have been reported. Deputy Commissioner of the Namibian Police, Otillie Kashuupulwa, said that at the moment it is quiet: “I wish it would stay this way.”
In the Swakopmund Magistrate's Court more than 150 warrants of arrests were issued yesterday against persons who have not yet come to pay their traffic fines. Warrants were issued for offences ranging from failure to wear a seat-belt, speeding, talking on a cell phone and driving under the influence.
Deputy Commissioner Kashuupulwa said, “We will find the people for whom the warrants were issued. With the new electronic equipment we have in our possession, they will not get away.”
Regular road blocks manned by police and traffic officers around Swakopmund and Walvis Bay are out in full force. With a clear and visible presence, not only on the roads leading to Walvis Bay and Swakopmund, but also in the towns, this will hopefully be a deterrent to people intent on breaking the law over the festive period.
Chief Inspector of the Swakopmund Police, Johanna van Rooyen, said that at the moment the biggest problem they face is the increase in the number of cases of shoplifting: “There have been a few minor attempts at house-breaking, but nothing serious. The problem we have now is shoplifting.”
Senior Traffic Officer of the Walvis Bay Traffic Department, Mr Eben Platt, said that currently they are hard at work and are busy with arrest warrants as well: “People don't pay their fines and they must take responsibility for their fines. If a vehicle is stopped and there is a warrant against the owner that driver will be held accountable. If the driver is not the owner of the vehicle, we will look for the owner and the vehicle will be held temporarily until the owner has been located and the outstanding fine paid.”
Quad bikers have been identified as a potential problem and many warnings have already been issued especially over the past long weekend: “The owners and operators of quad bikes are not above the law. They need to respect our laws and our land. Especially children who are found driving these vehicles without helmets will be stopped and their parents will be held accountable,” Mr Platt said.
The Namibian Police and Municipal Traffic Departments are appealing to the drivers of heavy-duty trucks to make use of the route behind the dunes when travelling between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund. “As of the first of December to date we have not had any deaths on the roads and we would like it to keep it that way,” Mr Platt said.
