Durban — Fidelity ADT said crime victims must pay attention to other features of criminals other than their faces as their faces are often concealed.
Fidelity Group marketing and communications head Charnel Hattingh said that during the Covid-19 pandemic it was said that masks made it easier for criminals to blend in. She said this was true to a degree, but she said the ironic thing was that criminals were brazen and they often made no effort to conceal their identity and did not care if their faces were captured on CCTV.
“Even if a criminal’s face is mostly concealed, there are still things that can give them away and help the police compile a good identikit. Taking note of distinguishing features is an important way to help our local security heroes, like armed response officers and the police, catch criminals.”
Hattingh said the sad reality was that the crime levels in the country left everyone vulnerable and trying to avoid being a victim was not always possible.
“The best thing victims can do when confronted by bald-faced criminals is, firstly, to stay calm and follow instructions and, secondly, discreetly gather as many features about the perpetrators as possible to pass on to the police,” said Hattingh.
She said crime victims should take note of the following clues: estimated age and build, clothing and shoes, hair and jewellery, accent, tattoos and scars, weapons, teeth (a gold tooth) and hands (maybe missing a finger).
What to look out for when reporting suspicious vehicles:
- The type of vehicle (sedan, SUV, hatchback)
- Paint colour (two-tone, drop-top)
- Number of occupants
- Scratched paint, cracked or chipped windows, tinted windows
- Make and model
- Dents, broken lights or mirrors
- Rims, tyres, mag wheels
- What the car sounded like
“It is understandable that the experience of falling victim to crime is traumatic and people may, therefore, question how easy it is to stay calm and focus on these features. We have often also experienced that two people in the same room at the time a crime is committed have completely different recollections of what happened and what the criminals looked like,” she said.
Daily News