Fred Fuller
Moderator Emeritus
This is the sort of thing my wife the criminologist calls "organized crime by disorganized criminals." Just one more thing to make note of, even though it is happening in a country far away (right now). The obvious counter is to keep valuables out of sight and out of reach.
lpl
===
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=vn20080917120110295C753225
Criminals' bubblegum tactic
September 17 2008 at 12:21PM
By Clayton Barnes
Teams of smash-and-grab criminals along Vanguard Drive are using chewing gum to mark the doors of vehicles their accomplices should hit at traffic lights further along the route, police say.
Another tactic used is for groups of men to scan cars for valuables at the intersections with the R300 and Klipfontein Road.
They then call ahead on their cellphones to another group stationed further down Vanguard Drive, where the smash-and-grab will be carried out.
Detailed descriptions of the car and the valuables inside are apparently conveyed to the person waiting to carry out the hit.
The groups, the police say, operate only during morning and afternoon peak times, when queues of cars line up at the traffic lights along the road.
Criminals were also believed to be hiring street children to beg at these intersections while scanning cars for valuables on the front or back seats.
If they spot a laptop, cellphone or handbag on the seat or near any of the windows, they stick a piece of chewing gum to the door nearest to the item, or on the car's roof.
This eases the way for the person at the next intersection, who then have only to smash the window, grab the item and make a run for it.
Police spokesperson Andre Venter said criminals were "quite strategic" when planning smash-and-grabs.
He said the bubblegum tactic had been gathering force in the past few months, together with other tactics.
Meanwhile, car guards and security staff at the Vangate Mall are to get observation training over the next few weeks, to help police identify smash-and-grab criminals operating at the Vangate intersection, Venter revealed.
"Criminals see these areas as soft spots and they hit when the opportunity arises.
"There are always boys and men loitering at that set of traffic lights," he said.
Police were also patrolling that area, he said, and police would step up patrols to monitor the spot on an hourly basis.
Metro Police spokesperson Nowellen Petersen said they had a dedicated camera response unit that patrolled the Vanguard Drive route between the N2 and Bofors Circle, near Epping, on a 24-hour basis.
He said three suspicious-looking men had been apprehended on Vanguard Drive last week after the camera response unit had been dispatched to the Bonteheuwel and Langa intersection.
One was identified as being wanted by the police in connection with three different offences.
Petersen advised motorists not to put valuables on their car seats, rather to lock them in the boot or put them where criminals could not see them.
"As summer is approaching, we appeal to motorists not to roll down their windows completely," Petersen said.
"In view of the pedestrian movement on the Vanguard Drive route, motorists should be alert to their surroundings, particularly when they are approached at intersections."
One victim, who asked not to be named but who was hit at the Langa turn-off a few months ago, said she was still traumatised by the incident.
She had her driver-side window smashed, then her handbag grabbed from the passenger seat.
"I can still see him walking towards my window, smashing it and then leaning in over me to grab my bag," she said.
"It is extremely traumatising and I now rather take an alternate route, which takes me 20 minutes longer, to get to work."
The woman was unable to say whether criminals had marked her as a potential smash-and-grab victim at a previous robot.
The senior crime researcher at the Institute of Security Studies, Dr Johan Burger, said it was normal practice for smash-and-grab criminals to operate in areas where motorists were forced to stop.
Traffic lights on main routes and busy intersections were often smash-and-grab hotspots, he said.
These were also often located on routes where criminals had an easy getaway route.
"They hit when traffic is gridlocked, leaving the motor-ist helpless when his window is smashed and valuables grab-bed," said Burger.
"They weave between the cars and before you know it, the criminal is gone.
"Smash-and-grabs happen in a matter of seconds."
Burger confirmed that in some cases, smash-and-grab criminals used cellphones to alert team members at upcoming intersections about cars with valuables inside.
"They work in teams and are, in some instances, very organised," he said.
"To try to solve the problem we need police to be stationed at these intersections.
"However, this is almost impossible with the limited resources," Burger said.
This article was originally published on page 3 of Cape Argus on September 17, 2008
lpl
===
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=vn20080917120110295C753225
Criminals' bubblegum tactic
September 17 2008 at 12:21PM
By Clayton Barnes
Teams of smash-and-grab criminals along Vanguard Drive are using chewing gum to mark the doors of vehicles their accomplices should hit at traffic lights further along the route, police say.
Another tactic used is for groups of men to scan cars for valuables at the intersections with the R300 and Klipfontein Road.
They then call ahead on their cellphones to another group stationed further down Vanguard Drive, where the smash-and-grab will be carried out.
Detailed descriptions of the car and the valuables inside are apparently conveyed to the person waiting to carry out the hit.
The groups, the police say, operate only during morning and afternoon peak times, when queues of cars line up at the traffic lights along the road.
Criminals were also believed to be hiring street children to beg at these intersections while scanning cars for valuables on the front or back seats.
If they spot a laptop, cellphone or handbag on the seat or near any of the windows, they stick a piece of chewing gum to the door nearest to the item, or on the car's roof.
This eases the way for the person at the next intersection, who then have only to smash the window, grab the item and make a run for it.
Police spokesperson Andre Venter said criminals were "quite strategic" when planning smash-and-grabs.
He said the bubblegum tactic had been gathering force in the past few months, together with other tactics.
Meanwhile, car guards and security staff at the Vangate Mall are to get observation training over the next few weeks, to help police identify smash-and-grab criminals operating at the Vangate intersection, Venter revealed.
"Criminals see these areas as soft spots and they hit when the opportunity arises.
"There are always boys and men loitering at that set of traffic lights," he said.
Police were also patrolling that area, he said, and police would step up patrols to monitor the spot on an hourly basis.
Metro Police spokesperson Nowellen Petersen said they had a dedicated camera response unit that patrolled the Vanguard Drive route between the N2 and Bofors Circle, near Epping, on a 24-hour basis.
He said three suspicious-looking men had been apprehended on Vanguard Drive last week after the camera response unit had been dispatched to the Bonteheuwel and Langa intersection.
One was identified as being wanted by the police in connection with three different offences.
Petersen advised motorists not to put valuables on their car seats, rather to lock them in the boot or put them where criminals could not see them.
"As summer is approaching, we appeal to motorists not to roll down their windows completely," Petersen said.
"In view of the pedestrian movement on the Vanguard Drive route, motorists should be alert to their surroundings, particularly when they are approached at intersections."
One victim, who asked not to be named but who was hit at the Langa turn-off a few months ago, said she was still traumatised by the incident.
She had her driver-side window smashed, then her handbag grabbed from the passenger seat.
"I can still see him walking towards my window, smashing it and then leaning in over me to grab my bag," she said.
"It is extremely traumatising and I now rather take an alternate route, which takes me 20 minutes longer, to get to work."
The woman was unable to say whether criminals had marked her as a potential smash-and-grab victim at a previous robot.
The senior crime researcher at the Institute of Security Studies, Dr Johan Burger, said it was normal practice for smash-and-grab criminals to operate in areas where motorists were forced to stop.
Traffic lights on main routes and busy intersections were often smash-and-grab hotspots, he said.
These were also often located on routes where criminals had an easy getaway route.
"They hit when traffic is gridlocked, leaving the motor-ist helpless when his window is smashed and valuables grab-bed," said Burger.
"They weave between the cars and before you know it, the criminal is gone.
"Smash-and-grabs happen in a matter of seconds."
Burger confirmed that in some cases, smash-and-grab criminals used cellphones to alert team members at upcoming intersections about cars with valuables inside.
"They work in teams and are, in some instances, very organised," he said.
"To try to solve the problem we need police to be stationed at these intersections.
"However, this is almost impossible with the limited resources," Burger said.
This article was originally published on page 3 of Cape Argus on September 17, 2008
At least, I don't THINK they would.