September 2026: The Month Our Officers Closed the Gap

Every month we publish what our teams responded to across Nelson Mandela Bay, Kariega and Despatch. Most months the headline is how many call-outs there were. This month it's what happened after our officers arrived.

‍

In September our armed response officers arrested 27 suspects. Another 15 arrests came from incidents where we worked with site security, clients, neighbourhood watches and SAPS. That's 42 people handed over to police in 30 days, and our arrest numbers keep climbing month on month.

‍

Here's what sits behind those numbers.

‍

The Month in Numbers

‍

‍

We responded to 368 incidents in September: 214 at homes and 154 at businesses and commercial sites.

‍

Theft and attempted theft made up 172 of those calls, close to half the month. That's been the pattern all year. Most of it is opportunistic: someone walks into an open yard, cuts a cable or pulls copper off a wall.

‍

One number is worth a second look. There were 83 attempted thefts and attempted burglaries. In each of those, someone tried and didn't get what they came for. Usually an alarm, a panic button or a response vehicle arriving sent them back over the wall empty-handed.

‍

Not every call was about crime. Our officers were also first on scene at 42 medical emergencies, 33 road accidents and 8 fires. In one case an elderly client had fallen at home. Our team helped get her out of a locked house and into an ambulance.

‍

How the Arrests Happened

‍

Arrests rarely come from luck. They usually come from an officer who keeps going after the first sighting. Some September examples:

‍

Six suspects stopped in Summerstrand. On 14 September a woman walking with friends was robbed of her cellphone. The suspects ran to a waiting getaway car. She flagged down B56, who was on patrol nearby. He turned around, followed the car and called for backup. Together with B77 and the rest of the Summerstrand team, he stopped the vehicle on Marine Drive and detained all six people inside. The victim's phone and earpods were recovered, along with a gas gun.

‍

On the roof in North End. On 29 September a suspect climbed over a palisade fence and onto a roof, where he started cutting the cables above the generators. Our officers and SAPS cornered him up there, and B3 climbed onto the roof to make the arrest.

‍

One officer, five arrests. In Kariega, B29 was involved in five separate arrests during the month. On 27 September he chased two suspects into thick bush in Levyvale and caught one of them. The stolen scaffolding was recovered. Two days earlier in Kariega, a suspect came back to the same garage he had broken into the day before. B29 chased him over several walls and arrested him a few properties away.

‍

A stolen car with false plates. On 5 September B17 saw a post on a community lookout group about a stolen vehicle, then spotted the car himself in Westbourne Road. He and B135 followed it and stopped it. The number plates turned out to be false, and the driver was arrested for possession of a suspected stolen vehicle.

‍

A team effort in Walmer. On 19 September W03 B19 arrived at a business just as a suspect fled with copper pipes stolen from the roof. He chased him and called in backup. Four of our officers caught up with the suspect together and walked him to the police station.

‍

Copper and cable theft came up in 7 of the 19 incidents where our officers made arrests. These thefts can cost a homeowner a few thousand rand or knock out power to a whole business. We're watching that trend closely.

‍

What You Can Do

‍

Most of September's incidents could have gone the other way with a few small habits:

‍

• Arm your alarm, even when you're home. Several attempted break-ins this month ended as soon as the siren went off.
• Lock the gate behind you. An unlocked driveway or pedestrian gate was the way in for a number of thefts.
• Protect what's outside. Copper pipes, geyser connections, cables and garden tools are easy targets. If yours are exposed, ask us how to protect them.
• Report it, even if it seems small. A tip on a community group led straight to September's stolen vehicle recovery.

‍

To Our Team

‍

Behind every number in this report is an officer who got out of the vehicle and kept going. To our armed response officers, our control room, and every client, neighbour and security partner who called it in, thank you. September's arrests belong to all of you.

‍

‍

‍