Berea __ As festive season crime prevention campaigns ends, Berea Police Station has recorded a sharp decline of murder cases accounting to four lives lost as opposed to the previous year whereby 14 murder cases were reported.

When approached for a comment, the District Commissioner of Police (DISPOL) Senior Superintendent (Snr Supt) Kabelo Halahala said last year Berea district shocked the nation as it saw a surge in gun violence and gangs related brutal killings which claimed lives of people some months before the festive season.

Snr Supt. Halahala said surprisingly, ever since they launched their festive season crime prevention campaign on December 09 until they wrapped it up on January 10, they only received the report of four murder cases.

He further said among such murder cases recorded, only one of them seems to be a planned murder, whereby it was discovered that the victim was ambushed by the attackers while walking at night.

DISPOL stressed that the other murder case took place at Ha-Mamathe, where it was influenced by a fight for a girl at the public bar which ended up with one life lost as a result of a gun.

He pointed out that on attempted murder cases, they only recorded two cases whereby two arrests were made, adding that last year during the same operation; five attempted murder cases were recorded and only three people were arrested.

Snr Supt. Halahala highlighted that among the strategies which yielded success during festive season crime prevention campaigns includes their improved response time whenever crime was reported as a result of resources availability, moreover he also commended public participation in curbing criminals.

Additionally, he said heavy visibility of police officers in public spaces and deployment of others to remote locations have also played a significant role in promoting a crime free environment.

Snr Supt Halahala also said they went an extra mile of providing security to 46 initiation schools graduation ceremonies due to their high potential of igniting crime.

He further said they went on to host the recreational activities like youth camps, soccer tournaments at various places including Mokhethoaneng, Sebetia and others.

In conclusion, DISPOL indicated that they also established satellite stations at the strategic places such as Thupa-kubu, Maqhaka, Sebetia, Kolojane and Lekokoaneng whereby some community leaders even came to their support in terms of logistics.

Meanwhile, during the same festive season crime prevention campaigns, Berea police further highlighted a success in arresting two people who were in possession of illegal guns, moreover the police also recorded three cases of people dealing with dagga, whereby four only people were arrested with dagga valued at M615,000,00.