On Monday 3rd May, as reported in “The Star”, cash in transit activities were under way at Fourways Mall when two vehicle loads of armed would be robbers approached the security staff in order to effect an armed robbery. The robbers were detected by close circuit cameras on site and the Douglasdale SAPS were summoned to the scene. Within a few minutes, reacting police sirens were heard approaching from several directions and upon hearing the approach of the police, the would be robbers immediately fled in their vehicles without harming anyone or taking any cash or other items. The thwarting of armed robberies of this nature is clear evidence of the successful introduction of carefully prepared  security plans, the deployment of effective anti crime technology and regular interaction between security companies, the Douglasdale Community Police Forum( CPF) and the South African police. Lives were protected and assets were saved and a clear message sent out that to commit crime in this precinct is done at grave peril to the perpetrators.

This morning at around 08h00 an alert  Fidelity street patroller was patrolling in Capricorn Ave Lonehill East when he heard the screams off a woman coming from the river area . He immediately called for back up on the radio and ran to investigate. He found a male suspect busy strangling a female victim whilst raping her at the same time . Reaction officers from Fidelity Lonehill arrived almost immediately and the suspect was arrested after he tried to run away and resisted arrest. He was subdued using minimum force and handed over to the Douglasdale Police . The street patoller must be commended for his alertness and observation skills . His quick action possibly prevented the lady from being strangled to death. It seems as if the lady took the wrong taxi this morning and was met by the suspect in Sunninghill who offered to direct her to the right place. He  led her to the bushes next to the river and started raping her . This incident once again highlights the value of our street patroller system in Lonehill. The victim has been taken to the district surgeon for treatment and tests

On the 31 of March at 10:00 hrs our RSS RAID Alpha Unit met at the Douglasdale Police station regarding an operation that was planned to remove and identify all of the “Job Seekers” loitering around the Builders Warehouse area, as well as behind the Pineslope shopping centre and the Craigavon area.

Shortly after 10:00 hrs our RSS RAID Unit along with Fedility, Nightguard and Metro Police stood parade given by Snr.Supt.Maharaj who explained the finer points of the operation that lay ahead. We were split up into three units, one to block off the top of Builders Warehouse, the second one would block off Sunset Blvd and the last one would come from the Molly Malone’s side. Choreographed to perfection, and on que, as the “Job Seekers” spotted our vehicles approaching and they took off running in every direction only to be detained by our officers. More than 50 illegal Zimbabweans were brought to the station to be scanned by the morpho touch system to establish if they were wanted for previous crimes, as well as loading them onto the Police database for future reference. Finger prints and ID numbers were added to the existing Police database of suspects.

The second target area was in the veldt behind the Pineslopes shopping centre where there is usually a large amount of vagrants congregated, that could possibly be involved in criminal activity. Once again one unit entered into the opening in the veldt just past Doppio Zero while the other unit was stationed on the William Nicol and the last unit was positioned on Witkoppen Rd to apprehend the vagrants who tried to flee. Unfortunately only a handful of vagrants were nabbed as the veldt was sparsely populated. The suspects that were nabbed were transported to the station in the back of the “Gumba” which was now already loaded to capacity.

The third focus area was behind the Cedar Square shopping centre where the “Job Seekers” gather looking for peace jobs. Our team split up into three units again, one stopping high up on Campbell Rd while the other two blocked off the intersection to prevent the “Job Seekers” from fleeing the raid site. This time the “Job Seekers didn’t even bother trying to run as they could see that every exit was blocked off. Approximately another thirty job seekers were gathered together, searched and loaded into the back of the “Gumba” to join their colleagues back at the station.

All in all this was a very successful operation and was executed to perfection achieving our ultimate goal of gathering Intel as well as ensuring any illegal immergrants are sent back to their own countries, as this, we believe, is where most of our crime is coming from.

The Douglasdale Robbery Task Team were patrolling the Sharonleigh area when they came across a green Toyota Corolla which made a “U” turn and the three occupants looked suspicious.  The members then put on their lights and siren and stopped the vehicle.  The car was searched and one Petro Beretta 9mm pistol with Serial Number filed of and 13 life rounds were recovered also retrieved was a baseball bat, pick and other housebreaking implements.  The suspects aged 21, 21, 23 are all from Westbury.

In a case opened on the 7^th of December 2007 where a family of 5 were attacked at their home in Chartwell, A 52 year old mother and her 22 year old son were shot and killed and the daughter and two other sons were wounded in a house robbery.  4 suspects were arrested and two firearms were recovered by the Douglasdale Robbery Task Team after a spate of house robberies in the said area.  Through intense investigation by D/Insp (f) A Holle the case was placed on roll the first week of February 2010 in the High Court of JHB.  The trial continued and on the 4^th of March 2010 the two accused now aged 30 & 28 years old were found guilty of two counts of murder each, 3 counts of attempted Murder each, one count of aggravating armed robbery each, one count of possession of unlicensed firearm each and one count of possession of unlicensed ammunition each.  On the 23^rd of March 2010 both accused were sentenced to two life terms each  for murder, 12 years for armed house robbery each plus five years for each count of attempted murder each, three years for unlicensed firearm each and one year for possession of unlicensed ammunition each.  This sentencing show’s the hard work and dedication put in by all members involved in the said case.  The Station Commander commended all the members for the excellent sentence received from the High Court of Johannesburg

More breakthroughs by our dedicated police force

Between Friday and Sunday (12 and 14 March), Douglasdale Police Station arrested five suspected housebreakers throughout the Douglasdale precinct, made a drug bust in Magaliesig (sector 3) when they seized half a kilogram of cocaine, and made a breakthrough in the ongoing cable theft in Chartwell (sector 1) when they arrested suspects, recovered about R100 000s-worth of cabling and seized the get away vehicle; that’s in addition to catching a suspect and recovering goods and firearms in the Cedar Square robbery in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Douglasdale Community Police Forum (CPF)

Douglasdale Police Station serves about 84 square kilometres that stretch from the highway up to (but not including) Diepsloot, and from Lonehill up to Malibongwe Drive.
The precinct is divided into six sectors.
Your sector and your community needs you to join forces with the police on the Community Police Forum to fight crime and uplift communities.

Statement by Jean Berdou, chair of the Douglasdale Precinct Community Police Forum (CPF)

“Today is the first step in a journey towards zero crime in our precinct taken jointly, with determination and with a detailed plan of action by the state-mandated body of the Douglasdale Community Police Forum, in partnership with the brave men and women at Douglasdale Police Precinct.

“Growing numbers of Volunteers from the community, both individuals and businesses, have come together to build networks of communication and mobilize community-driven projects in an effort to destroy crime and build a safer, cleaner and happier precinct for all its community members.

“As a result of crime, we, the police and the community, have suffered together. Now the time has come for us work together to make the Douglasdale Precinct the safest and best precinct in the country and to inspire and encourage all precincts to pursue similar vision.”

Says Steve Howell, General Manager of Montecasino, “We take our responsibility as a good corporate citizen and, more importantly, a concerned member of the community, very seriously, and have, since the time of our bid commitments, remained integrally involved in the community we serve. Under the leadership of Jean Berdou, we are committing to further entrenching our involvement in the community.  We have key staff members on the CPF, who attend meetings on behalf of Montecasino, in the form of André Hudson, our Head of Security, and Jacqui Mabuza, our PR Manager, and I trust that they are adding the value of their area of expertise to the Forum.”

“We are further, delighted to have donated two vehicles to the Douglasdale CPF to support their objective of quick response time to crime alerts, and our tactical unit is on alert not just for Montecasino but for the immediate surrounding areas.  We work hand-in-hand with local residents associations such as the LRA, and are proud to be able to play a role in apprehending the bad guys, as we did at the end of last year during the Spar robbery,” continues Howell.

Berdou concludes, “Zero crime is not a pipe dream but an achievable attainment for when a community stands up in unity with its police force, crime shall be defeated, hope restored and community rebuilt”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At approximately 15h00 today (4 February 2010), policemen from Douglasdale Police Station arrested three men on the border of Sector 4 and Sector 6 (Douglasdale and Jukskei Park suburbs, respectively). The policemen noticed suspicious behaviour – the men were driving up and down various streets aimlessly – when they stopped the vehicle. With instincts alerted, they searched the entire vehicle and found an unlicensed firearm concealed in the engine. There is evidence that these men are house robbers. Director Jenny Naidoo says: “I think we saved at least one family today.”

Well done Director Naidoo and your brave team.

Quick action by a police reservist led to the arrest of two mall robbers in Sandton on Friday, Johannesburg police said.
Inspector Kym Cloete said five men robbed a cellphone shop in the Benmore shopping centre at 10am.

They made off with an undisclosed amount of cash and three bags of cellphones valued at around R100,000, lightly wounding a security guard in their flight.

A 27-year-old off-duty Douglasdale police reservist became suspicious when he noticed the robbers’ getaway car, a maroon Toyota Corolla, riddled with bullet holes.
He discreetly followed the robbers and contacted the police radio control centre, requesting backup.

Meanwhile, two of the robbers were dropped at Peter Place while the reservist continued to follow the getaway car.
Shortly afterwards, members of the Randburg Crime Prevention unit arrived and tried to pull over the robbers on Bryanston Drive.
A high-speed car chase ensued.

The robbers stopped on the corner of Sloane and Waterloo roads and fled into veld. They shot at the reservist, who returned fire.
A Randburg Crime Prevention police vehicle was on the other side of the veld and apprehended two of the robbers, a 32-year-old South African and a 28-year-old Zimbabwean. One robber managed to get away.

Police recovered the stolen cellphones and an unlicensed 9mm pistol as well as the Corolla. It was later established the car was stolen in the Linden area in December 2009.
The reservist did not want to be named.

The two will appear in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday on charges of possession of stolen property and an unlicensed firearm.
Charges of robbery may by added later, Cloete said. The investigating officer still needs to confirm the link between the crimes since the robbery did not happen in the Randburg area, she said.

A high speed chase of a stolen vehicle starting in Sandton to Randpark Ridge, to Fourways involving officers from Sandton Crime Prevention, the Rapid Response Unit and the Johannesburg Metro Police ends in the arrest of one suspect and recovery of a stolen vehicle and an unlicensed firearm.

Tracker picked up the signal of a Honda SR-V, which had been reported stolen in the Brooklyn Pretoria area on February 4, in Becleauch at 9am this morning at February 5.

Police chased the vehicle from the Buccleuch Interchange to Beyers Naude in Randpark Ridge where the suspects tried to evade them, more police officers joined in the chase.

The suspects got back on the highway with the police hot on the chase; the police chopper was called in for assistance and caught up with the suspects on William Nicol Road, Fourways.

“The police chopper was called in for assistance and the chase continued until Fourways Crossing. Shots were fired at the suspect’s vehicle from the police chopper; the suspects then lost control and crashed into the palisade fence at Builders Warehouse,” said Randburg police spokesperson Inspector Kim Cloete.

The suspects had been driving on the wrong side of the road when they lost control of the vehicle and crashed.

Two suspects jumped out of the vehicle and tried to flee; Sandton police constables Sam Mothapo and Jeffery Moloto caught one of the suspects, a 26 year old male and arrested him for possession of a presumably stolen vehicle.

The other suspect managed to get away and is still at large, one firearm was recovered at the scene of the crash; police are still searching for the other suspect and more firearms.
Dozens of people gathered around the crime scene to see what all the commotion was about.

Number plates of other vehicle that have been reported stolen were found in the Honda SR-V and the firearm the police recovered had been reported stolen in a house robbery in Pretoria.

Douglasdale police offices have taken over the case and are investigating if the firearm has been used in other house robberies.