By Petronella Sibeene WINDHOEK Unemployment among the youth remains the major contributor to crime in the country, especially house-breaking cases that are reported to be on the increase. A police official in the Crime Unit at the Windhoek Police Station, who preferred to remain anonymous, told New Era that his division handles about 15 housebreaking cases every day. Chief Police Inspector Hieronymus Goraseb also revealed that perpetrators in cases handled at Wanaheda, Windhoek and Katutura Police stations always cite unemployment as the reason behind their actions. Unemployment in the country currently stands at about 36 percent. Perpetrators at the Windhoek Police Station commit this crime in the Central Business District more than in residential areas. In Katutura, most targeted areas are the entire Khomasdal, Maroela, Dolam, Freedom Land, Grysblock and Shandumbala. Although a first offender can be sentenced to six months imprisonment, old perpetrators continue to commit the same kind of crime. The police, according to Goraseb, are experiencing a low success rate in arresting offenders for housebreaking due to lack of cooperation from the public. This situation has also been caused by “lack of information from the public – for instance, where to get the stolen items or the suspects themselves. Secondary is the shortage of logistics to ease the work of the police in addressing this particular crime,” he said. Although police are addressing this problem, Goraseb sees a need to intensify both foot and vehicle patrols in the suburbs and conducting community-policing forums where information on crimes could be exchanged with members of the public. The police have also recovered items through their conducted operations, sometimes with the help of reliable information from the public. “For a better Windhoek, and Namibia at large, it is in the interest of all the people in the country to report crimes or suspected crimes to the nearest police station. The identity of a member of the public will be kept confidential,” he advised.