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KHAYELITSHA-COMMISSION by Chantall Presence
CAPE TOWN May 13 Sapa
KHAYELITSHA POLICING HAPPENING BY CHANCE: EXPERT
Weak crime intelligence in Khayelitsha means policing is happening by chance, a retired officer testified on Tuesday.
"The consequences are... not intelligence driven policing, but policing by chance," Chris de Kock, a retired SA Police Service crime intelligence analyst said while testifying in phase two of the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry.
"You police the area... and there by chance you arrest somebody because there's no focus on specific threats."
De Kock examined crime statistics from the area for the past few years and concluded that the crime situation had regressed significantly since the 2010 World Cup when crime intelligence systems were implemented successfully.
"In those stations where proper analysis was done... crimes decreased by between 40 and 50 percent," he said.
"If you look at the two years since then, we are actually going backwards."
During the 2011/12 and 2012/13 financial years, "policeable crimes", such as common and aggravated robberies, increased by 50
percent in the greater Khayelitsha area.
Attempted murder increased by close to 30 percent in 2012/13.
"That is exceptionally high," he said.
De Kock is one of several expert witnesses who will testify this week.
The commission, chaired by Judge Kate O'Regan, started sitting in January.
The commission was set up by Western Cape premier Helen Zille after NGO the Social Justice Coalition complained that police inefficiency was the reason for mob killings becoming more prevalent in the area.
Sapa
/cp/jk/jje 05/13/14 14-23