Increase In Pickpocket Theft Worries Police
Staff Writer | Monday February 6, 2017 17:26
In an interview with The Monitor, Borakanelo police station commander, superintendent Mothusi Phadi issued a warning to members of the public especially women to be extra careful when walking within the malls.
He said it appears that women are the most targeted because they are the ones who report with high numbers when compared to their male counterpart.
Phadi stated that the thieves usually target the malls where people come in large numbers. He said the targeted areas are Rail Park Mall and KB mall, bus rank and the station.
“This is very worrying to us because the cases are high and are reported daily.
The thieves usually pretend to be walking around the malls whilst looking at people’s pockets and hand bags,” Phadi said.
He revealed that the police are doing their best to curb the situation hence pleading with people to be extra cautious when walking within the malls.
Phadi said the criminals are usually young boys from the surrounding villages of Ramotswa, Mochudi, Tlokweng and Molepolole who are unemployed and depending on theft for survival.
“At times the thieves follow people until they get inside the shop pretending to be buying as well whilst their motive will be to search them and steal their money and other valuables,” Phadi said. He said that the said thieves also have the habit of snatching and running away with women’s bags.
“On daily basis women come to the office to report that their hand bags were snatched by unknown culprits within the mall,” Phadi said. He said that the thieves spend their entire day loitering around the malls looking for someone to steal from.
The police boss said that the thieves also target people while queuing up for public transport, where they will snatch their bags and run away.
Phadi called on members of the public to be always alert when they are in the shopping malls and to handle their bags safely.
He also raised a concern over the alarming numbers of smash and grab within their policing area.
He said that the criminals target cars at traffic lights and when it is raining and break the windows to snatch people’s valuables such as mobile phones, lap tops, money and other valuables.
“In a week we usually receive three to four cases of smash and grab within our policing area.
This worries us because people lose their valuables,” Phadi said.
“We are pleading with people to always make sure that their cars are locked and to close their windows when approaching the traffic lights to avoid such instances,” Phadi said.
He called on members of the public to put their valuables in a safe place and out of view when driving or parking their cars because when they are visible they are likely to attract thieves.
“Usually when people come to report they disclose that their goods were on top of the passenger seat or on the dashboard.
We usually experience traffic during peak hours and when raining and that is the time when the thieves strikes,” Phadi said.