2008-06-02Staff Report 2 By Irene !Hoaes WINDHOEK Do police crime statistics reflect the truth about a declining crime rate in the City of Windhoek, compared to last year during the same period, or are Windhoek residents simply not reporting crime that they experience? Windhoek residents are complaining about increasing crime in and around the city. However, police crime statistics show that there is a decrease in the city's crime rate. Similarly, the City Police also reports a decrease in the city's crime rate. The crimes mostly committed are theft, housebreaking, theft out of motor vehicles, theft from persons and common assault. Theft from people includes cellphones grabbing and bag-snatching from women. Jukebox break-ins, isolated robberies as well as murder are also reported, although they are not that high. Official police statistics that compare crime between March last year and March this year show that theft (not elsewhere mentioned) NEM stood at 383 cases and 316 respectively. Housebreaking stood at 128 last year while it now stands at 94. Theft from people stood at 72 previously and now dropped to 63. Common assault stood at 71 and now stands at 59. The only crime reported to have increased according to the statistics is theft from or out of motor vehicles. The crime increased from 128 last year to 135 this year. The total number for crimes committed last year stood at 15? 2008-06-02Staff Report 2
