City witnesses 10% spike in street crimes

Street criminals ruled Karachi during the outgoing year as the metropolitan city witnessed a 10 per cent hike in crimes in 2022 exposing the tall claims of police high-ups, according to the data available with The Express Tribune.

Alarmingly, on average 10 incidents of street crime happened in an hour, while the daily count of street crimes was 239. A total 85,948 crime incidents have been reported in 2022. A large number of incidents go unreported. The city police recalibrated their strategy several times throughout 2022, including deployment of the Shaheen Squad, but failed to bring down the crime graph.

In 2021, as many as 78,123 incidents of street crimes had been reported, which are 10% less than 85,948 street crimes reported in 2022, according to the figures released by the Citizen Police Liaison Committee (CPLC). The figures include crimes committed between January 1 and December 25, 2022.

According to the breakdown, motorcycle theft and snatching topped the chart of street crimes in 2022 as 50,809 two-wheelers were stolen, while 4,877 were snatched at gunpoint in the outgoing year.

It was followed by cell-phone snatching. As many as 28,040 mobile phones were snatched by muggers during the abovementioned time period. Similarly, there were 2,065 carjacking incidents, while 157 vehicles were snatched at gunpoint. The CPLC figures show that there were 2,499 incidents of cell-phone-snatching, 3,908 of motorcycle theft, 419 of motorcycle-snatching, 184 of car theft, and 16 incidents of car-snatching in the month of January.

In February, there were 2,199 incidents of phone-snatching, 4,081 of motorcycle theft, 405 of motorbike-snatching, 171 of carjacking and 15 incidents of car-snatching. In March, the number went up as 2,416 incidents of phone-snatching, 4,285 of motorcycle theft, 426 of bike-snatching, 204 of carjacking and 16 incidents of vehicle-snatching were reported. In April, there were 2,118 incidents of mobile-phone-snatching, 3,952 of motorcycle theft, 353 of motorbike-snatching, 181 of carjacking, and 12 incidents of car-snatching. In May, the figures again went up as 2,658 incidents of phone-snatching, 4,454 of motorcycle theft, 383 of bike-snatching, 174 of car theft, and 12 incidents of car-snatching were reported to the police.

In June, incidents of cellphone snatching witnessed as sharp dip as only 260 incidents were reported to the police throughout the month. However, incidents involving motorcycle theft and snatching went up as 4,197 two-wheelers were stolen and 456 were snatched at gunpoint. Similarly, 178 cars were stolen and 10 were snatched at gunpoint in June.

In July, cellphone snatching incident again spiked as 2,154 phones were snatched. In other crimes, 3,984 motorcycles were stolen and 393 were snatched at gunpoint, 145 cars were stolen and 15 were snatched throughout the month. In August, there were 2,677 incidents of cellphone-snatching, 4,869 of motorcycle theft, 450 of motorcycle-snatching, 155 of car stealing, and 12 incidents of car snatching.

According to the CPLC figures, 2,446 mobile-phones were snatched; 4,553 motorcycles were stolen and 427 were snatched at gunpoint; and 169 cars were stolen and 19 were snatched at gunpoint in the month of September. In October, the numbers spiked in comparison with the preceding year as there were 2,260 incidents of cellphone-snatching, 4,659 of motorcycle theft, 446 of motorcycle-snatching, 203 of car theft and eight incidents of car-snatching.

In the month of November, 2,372 citizens were deprived of their cellphones and 4,626 of their two-wheelers. Another 424 motorcycles were snatched at gunpoint, while 145 cars were stolen and 10 were snatched at gunpoint. Until December 25, there were 1,641 incidents of mobile-phone-snatching, 3,241 of motorcycle-jacking, 295 of motorbike-snatching, 159 of carjacking and 15 incidents of car snatching.

The entire Sindh Police Department, particularly IG Ghulam Nabi Memon, AIG Karachi Javed Alam Odho, Zonal DIGs and District SSPs, have been drawing flak for their failure to secure the city by eliminating street crimes. Karachi citizens say that all resources are available to the Police Department but still it cannot control street crimes which leave a big question mark on the professional competence of its top cadres.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 29^th, 2022.