Operation Shanela II and regular policing in KwaZulu-Natal resulted in 13 542 arrests in August.
Criminals were arrested for a range of crimes.
Police made 4007 arrests for contact crimes.
Operation Shanela make arrests in these contact crimes
The figures for the various types of contact crimes look like this:
- Murder cases – 232
- Rape – 249
- Attempted murder -209
- Different types of robbery – 251. These included: robbery with aggravating circumstances, house robbery, business robbery, carjacking, and attempted business robbery.
Most arrests on a single crime category were assault with the intention to cause grievous bodily harm. This category netted 1915 suspects. Common assault, on the other hand, saw 856 arrests.
Police nabbed 212 suspects for residential burglaries. A further 66 people were arrested for business robberies.
Sixty-six people were arrested for stock theft.
Forty-nine people were arrested for stealing from a motor vehicle. Seventeen individuals were apprehended for stealing vehicles and motorcycles.
A coup for the police was discovering 360 firearms and 8791 rounds of ammunition during operations. The range of firearms recovered was 301 pistols, 23 rifles, 18 homemade guns, 13 shotguns, and firearms that are semi or fully automatic.
People with the intent of damaging or destroying property that did not belong to them also faced the brunt of the law, with 381 arrests made for malicious damage to property. A further eight suspects were arrested for arson.
One thousand two hundred arrests were made for criminality relating to liquor. Out of this figure, 695 were arrested for illicit liquor trading, 332 were jailed for being drunk in public spaces, and 163 were arrested for drinking out in public.
Police spokesperson, Colonel Robert Netshiunda, said police were thankful to community members who helped make these arrests a possibility.
“Majority of the suspects arrested, mostly for violent crimes such as murder, were identified by community members who tipped off police officers,” said Netshiunda.
He encouraged community members to continue providing valuable information to the police by contacting the nearest police station. Tip-offs may also be conveyed by calling Crime Stop on 0860010111.
What are your thoughts on the August arrests by police in KwaZulu-Natal?
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