Hi All,
I trust that everyone is in the swing of the World Cup.  We all wish Bafana Bafana well and after Friday’s performance I am sure we can make it through to the knockout stages and even maybe keep the cup in Africa.
Tourists have flooded our area.  Melrose Arch, the Wanderers Hotel and all the guest houses are brimming with international visitors to our wonderful country.  We do need members of the community that are willing to be called to assist the police if we have a tourist that can not speak one of our 11 official languages.  If you are willing to assist please email your name, contact details and when you are available (very NB).  The time is important as we might need your assistance at odd hours of the day.
Weekly Report:

There was one trio crime last week – a House Robbery on Central Ave in Houghton.  No injuries were reported but a lot of valuables were taken.
There were numerous house break-ins across all of our sectors.  If your alarm goes off please take it seriously.  This is especially true for Orange Grove and Highlands North as these petty criminals are working as hard as our soccer players in your area.
Armed robberies are on the increase around Louis Botha (8th – 12 Ave & 7th – 10 Str).  Please be on the lookout and pass this message on to your friends and family.  The more eyes that are out there looking out for criminals the more likely we are to catch them.
Liquor is a scourge on our area and there were numerous reports of assaults and assaults GBH (grievous bodily harm) in and around the taverns on our area.  We need to ensure that the illegal taverns/bars/shebeens are closed down and the legal ones are abiding by the laws that protect us all.  Please object in writing to any proposed or existing establishments to info@ncpf.co.za & include photos and case records of issues that you might have had.  The more details and objections we have from residents in and around these outlets the more likely it is that we can do something about them.
Balfour Park shopping centre has once again been targeted by criminals stealing from people withdrawing money.  Please do not carry large amounts of cash around.  You are a target for sophisticated gangs that have informers in and around the banks (all over our Sector).
Lookouts & warnings:
As above, please be careful when you have cash on you or stored in your house.  Your household employees might well be involved and passing on the information to the criminals.  Have you vetted your staff (i.e. – have you done a criminal check)?  Do you have a copy of their id document?  Do you know anything about them?
Consider using professional security companies to transport and store your cash.  Make yourself less of a target for crime.
If you have been a victim of a house break-in or robbery and have not had your house dusted for fingerprints please can you let us know.  Email the case number and any other details you have to info@ncpf.co.za.  We are trying to collate data on issues we have had with the Local Criminal Record Centre (LCRC).
The lookout for this week is still the Silver BMW with three to four males inside.  It was involved in another armed robbery in our area last week.  The person was outside his house when this gang hit.
Meeting:
There is an NCPF meeting scheduled for the 30th June.  The Norwood SAPS are likely to not be in a position to attend the meeting due to FIFA commitments.  I would like to go ahead with the meeting so as to interact with you the community.  So I would like to request that all those interested in helping out and getting involved (including all the Sector Crime Forum members) to attend so that we can get more people working together in our area.
Clearly people are not getting our emails.  We sent a lookout on that Silver BMW a week or so ago.  If the person who got robbed had received the email about the lookout of the Silver BMW maybe he could have avoided the criminals that robbed him.  Please pass this info on to others in our area
Have a great week and please let us know if you speak a foreign language or if you are willing to assist. .
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Yours,
Duncan
Norwood Community Police Forum
078 014 2387
www.ncpf.co.za
Fax – 086 626 0268