Share

Technology vital in fight against crime

Cape Town - There is a high-tech race between criminals and law enforcement and according to speakers at the 35th International Crimestoppers Conference in Cape Town, measures are already in place to stay ahead.

This comes after Police Minister Nkosinathi Nhleko identified technology as vital in the fight against crime.

Fraud, organised and cyber crime, human trafficking and vehicle crime were key areas of focus, with calls from experts across the major crime categories to keep advancing data management, communication platforms and public engagement.

Nhleko referred to a 2012 study by Ascensia which found that citizens in general believe police should open up more to digital tools to enable them to fight crime.

“[The Ascensia study shows that]…citizens have made it clear that they want to support police in fighting and preventing crime, but that they need more information from police to do so. Digital tools should play an important role in communicating with citizens who want to support police to fight crime, but do not feel adequately informed of police activities. By adopting new digital technologies police can create new communication channels to engage citizens and gather leads to support their investigations,” said Nhleko.

Technology is being developed and deployed to perpetrate crimes with a view to leaving little digital footprint. This ranges from selling illicit goods on the internet to mass identity theft and credit card fraud. Vehicle crime poses a dynamic challenge to law enforcement and sits against a backdrop of an often violent modus operandi.

“Vehicle crime investigators are faced with ever changing technology as well as the introduction of new vehicle models each month. Modern vehicles are more like moving computers constantly threatened by hackers and technology enabled jamming devices are upgrading constantly,” said International Association of Auto Theft Investigators (Iaati) President Tinus Odendal.

The Iaati database consists of 2.36 million cases of car theft involving 1.27 million insurance claims.

Micro-dotting

Recent legislation implemented in South Africa stipulates that all vehicles must carry micro-dotting technology. What this means is that all new vehicles will contain approximately 1 000 hidden markers that hold the identity of that vehicle, so that in the event of the vehicle being stolen it can be easily identified. Importantly, the locations of the 0.5mm dots are not visible to thieves.

“About 17% of vehicles in SA are now fitted with Datadot technology and 16 000 police officers have been trained to identify datadot technology,” according to Kheepe Moremi, head of marketing at Datadot.

Moremi said cars with microdot technology have a 63% higher recovery rate than those without. Similarly, cars with tracking devices have more than an 80% chance of being recovered, while those without a tracking device fitted have less than a 10% chance of being recovered.

“Working closely with the Saps, our technology has helped lead to 13 000 arrests. This demonstrates that advancements in vehicle and crime fighting technology is imperative and can make a significant impact,” according to Tracker’s Ron Knott-Craig.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Rand - Dollar
18.97
-0.2%
Rand - Pound
24.13
-0.1%
Rand - Euro
20.63
-0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.38
+0.3%
Rand - Yen
0.13
+0.4%
Platinum
911.88
-1.3%
Palladium
1,019.74
-4.3%
Gold
2,159.99
-0.0%
Silver
25.11
+0.3%
Brent-ruolie
86.89
+1.8%
Top 40
66,252
0.0%
All Share
72,431
0.0%
Resource 10
53,317
0.0%
Industrial 25
100,473
0.0%
Financial 15
16,622
0.0%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Company Snapshot
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE
Government tenders

Find public sector tender opportunities in South Africa here.

Government tenders
This portal provides access to information on all tenders made by all public sector organisations in all spheres of government.
Browse tenders