REHOBOTH – The new police station commander at Rehoboth Inspector Max Joodt says crime in the small southern town has decreased considerably since he assumed the reigns as the station chief about a year ago.
Some 311 cases were noted at the police station at 31 December 2012, while during the same period end of last year, the figure came down to 234. “People feel much safer. We get a lot of compliments from the community. Crime is now manageable,” said the new police station commander. The commander said some of the factors that have contributed to the reduction in crime are regular police patrols around neighbourhoods, interaction with the community and shebeen owners and the visibility of police in the town. Joodt, who formerly worked at Mariental, Kalkrand and Aranos as a regular officer and station commander respectively, said that when he arrived in Rehoboth, the crime rate was very high with the main concern being alcohol and drug abuse and the mushrooming of unlicensed shebeens. “I held meetings with Shebeen owners in April last year and explained to them the content of the Liquor Act and conditions stipulated in the act such as closing hours,” he said, adding after the meeting most shebeens started closing on time although it was not easy as some shebeen owners continued to violate the rules resulting in arrests.
He added that the situation has now improved and there are less assault and murder cases in the town owing to the constant patrols and visibility of the police. Joodt said that they also carry out ‘stop and search’ operations where they mostly confiscate knives and drugs on persons on the streets.
“But domestic violence is becoming a concern,” he reckons, saying that violence between girlfriend and boyfriend or spouses is becoming common which is mainly as a result of alcohol abuse. The station commander added that even housebreaking has decreased. Joodt replaced Inspector Marschell Diergaardt.
By Magreth Nunuhe