KZN police to target areas near liquor outlets
KZN police say they plan on clamping down on liquor outlets in a bid to curb murder in the province.
This following the release of the annual crime statistics yesterday - which showed that murder is on the rise in both SA and KZN and that the province had the highest number of murders in the country, in the last financial year.
Jay Naicker, provincial spokesperson for SAPS, says the stats give them direction in terms of where they need to focus their resources.
"Our biggest challenge still remains the high murder rate in KZN. Most of our murders are committed in the vicinity of liquor outlets and taverns. We will be focusing more on the enforcement of the liquor act at places where liquor is consumed. We have also taken note of the fact that the instruments used in these murders - are firearms and knives. Focused operations targeted at seizing these weapons need to be operational where murders are prevalent," Naicker said.
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Naicker says they are making headway in terms of the seizure of firearms and that over the past three months, 1214 firearms and 10 129 rounds of ammunition - were confiscated.
"It's also a positive find when criminals are being intercepted during intelligence driven operations targeting armed robberies. Whilst, we have noted the decrease in aggravated robberies, we are by no means going to slow down," Naicker said.