14 Feb 2012 - 'Love your Neighbour' Evening a great success
Last week’s annual Hout Bay Neighbourhood Watch bash, held at the gracious Riverside Estates in Valley Road, was a huge success with many new faces among the members attending. Read the full story by Lindy Nauta. See our Gallery for the pics.
6 Feb 2012 - Fire along the banks of the Hout Bay River
A fire broke out along the banks of the Hout Bay River on Monday afternoon. With the searing heat of the past couple of weeks, the vegetation was tinder dry and the fire spread rapidly,threatening properties in the Beach Estate area, mainly below Empire Avenue. The fire jumped the river and horses at the Hout Bay Riding Centre were evacuated. The Kronendal Retirement Village and The Spinney Senior Centre were also on alert and ready to move senior citizens to safety. Some shack dwellers and flower sellers were also directed away from the path of the fire.
Huge plumes of black smoke and a wall of flames could been seen from many parts of the valley and Watchcon was soon dealing with dozens of phone calls and enquiries over the radio network. Neighbourhood watch members, NSRI, SAPS and SAPS reservists headed for the vicinity of the fire and surrounding areas to offer their help in backing-up the many emergency services on scene and to assist with traffic control – a great team effort and a true show of community spirit.
The fire changed course a couple of times, but thankfully the southeaster was not too strong and the fire was under control within a couple of hours. A few fire-fighters remained on scene well into the evening to ensure there were no flare-ups.
Many residents listened in on their hand-held radios as events unfolded and some sent e-mails (Log in to read some >>) or later phoned in to say how impressed they were by the number of neighbourhood watch members who responded, and in particular those who were directing operations so calmly and efficiently, both in the field and at Watchcon. A fire that could have caused havoc and untold damage was brought under control by the combined efforts of almost a dozen fire tenders. Neighbourhood watch was proud to be part of the team effort.
Thanks to Julie Banham for this report and Keith Bull for these images. See our Gallery>>.
Top Ten Causes of False Alarm Signals
This security message is courtesy of Coastal Security Services.
It is everyone's responsibility to help protect Hout Bay. Every false alarm distracts your Armed Response Officer from responding to positive incidents. Positive incidents account for less than 1% of actual reponses. There were approx. 20,000 alarm activations in Hout Bay in the month of December. This represents a significant wastage of manpower. We have a target of reducing false alarms by 50%. Please do your bit to help. Below is a list of the top ten reasons for false alarms. The biggest cause is ‘finger problems’ by clients. If you do set your alarm off accidently please phone your Armed Response company or Watchcon to cancel the activation.
1. Finger trouble. The alarm is activated while arming/disarming the system. Remedy – Familiarize yourself with the system, or call the alarm installation company.
2. Doors and windows not secured correctly. Activations can be caused by draughts or wind. Remedy –Secure all doors and windows properly before setting the alarm
3. Technical malfunction. The system has a fault and thus generates false signals. Remedy – Call the alarm installation company and rectify.
4. Incorrect installation. Incorrect use of detection devices such as internal detection devices being used externally. Remedy – Use an approved installer.
5. Insects. Ants and spiders can nest in devices. Remedy – Have your alarm system inspected, tested and serviced regularly.
6. Sun reflection. Sunlight may shine directly onto or reflect onto infra red detection devices and cause them to activate. Remedy – Call the alarm installation company and rectify.
7. Foliage for outside detectors. External beams require line-of-sight between them. Remedy – Ensure that external beams are not impeded by foliage and if necessary trim. Read more>>
15 Feb 2012 - Drug Search at Hout Bay High School
On Wednesday, 15 February 2012 at approx 08:30 to 09:45 a drug search was conducted at the Hout Bay High School. The school had experienced a few incidents in the last two weeks with students. The headmaster Mr Julies approached SAPS to conduct the drug search. During the search, five SAPS members and an extra two members from the Dog Unit and a Narcotic dog were utilized. Several knives, cigarettes, lighters, sharp objects and one flare were confiscated. The scholars were given the opportunity to hand in any dangerous weapon before the search. No arrests were made.
14 Feb 2012 - Suspects arrested in Robbery and House Robbery Incidents
ROBBERY: On Wed, 8th of Feb 2012 at approx. 18:40 the complainant came back from shopping in Well Way Hout Bay. He was threatened by two males, armed with a knife who demanded the complainant’s cellular phone and took his cash. SAPS members (from the Crime Prevention Unit) went to the scene and the suspects were found hiding in the bushes. Two suspects were arrested and the stolen property was recovered. The suspects’ ages were 36 and 15 and they appeared on Friday in the Wynberg Magistrate on charges of Robbery. Read more >>
HOUSE ROBBERIES: On Mon, 6th of Feb 2012 at approx. 05:20 the complainant who lives in Hout Bay Heights was sleeping when she was woken by the dogs barking. One suspect came through a small window, which was left open. The suspect then opened the door for the other suspect. The suspects took the complainant outside and hit the complainant on the head with an unknown object. The complainant’s laptop was stolen. SAPS followed up on information received, leading to two arrests.
On Tues, 7th of Feb 2012 between 23:00 and 08:30 there was a House breaking at Dunes Restaurant where a Panasonic flat screen television and two computer boxes were stolen. WO Buchner from the Crime Prevention Unit received information, he followed it up and arrested the two suspects, who were linked to the House Robbery (Heights on the 6th of Feb) and the Dunes incident. The television and the computer boxes were recovered. Read more >>
17 Jan 2012 - Well done to the NSRI!
NSRI is one of the many amazing emergency response organisations that work through Watchcon, and add even more to the community spirit that Hout Bay is famous for. There has been quite a lot of NSRI activity on our Watchcon radios in the past few days. Because
Watchcon often plays an important role in NSRI efforts many people, who don’t have radios, are often unaware of what has been happening.
The night of 16th January is a case in point. In the words of Brad Geyser, Station commander of NSRI Station 8, Hout Bay, "Last night was hairy!"
The pictures below taken by Rob Fine illustrate the rescue of yachtsman Bob Loana from San Diego USA, who enjoyed himself so much here in 2003, that he returned via Mossel Bay and Durban after sailing from USA. Bob says he has never seen such wind. It tore his Main sail in two.
As Brad says, "He will be staying for awhile at the HBYC doing repairs and hopefully enjoying Hout Bay again."
NSRI were very supportive of HBNW during the Beach Safety Project and last Sunday were again busy in the bay, backed up by police divers and a rescue helicopter, in the search for a missing youngster.
In the words of Julie Banham, HBNW Chairperson "Listening in, I was reminded how blessed we are in Hout Bay to have such a slick and professional sea rescue unit." Find out more about the NSRI>>
Validate your NW Identity Card
It is a requirement under Clause 12 of the ‘Western Cape Provincial Constitution and Code of Conduct for Neighbourhood Watch Structures’ that we must ensure all identity cards are validated annually.
Last year we introduced a simpler way of re-validating your HBNW membership cards. The option to have a new card made up (with a more recent photo) and pay the usual R10 was, and still is, in place. However, we also offered the option to have a validation sticker attached to your existing card. More info>>
Crime Stats
Some high level observations from the latest crime graphs(7 February) are summarised below:
Reported Incidents of Theft are once again ahead of House Break-ins as the highest category of reported crime in Hout Bay.
Robbery (other) is the next highest reported category followed by Theft out of Motor Vehicle..
Kronendal (Block 6)experienced the highest number of incidents of reported crime followed by Imizamo Yethuand Hangberg. Beach Estate, Northshore, Block 6 CBD and Vlakkenberg all followed with the same number of reported incidents.
Most reported crime is still happening in the evenings and afternoons. Early evenings are again the quietest time for reported crime.
More information available (you need to log in)
Daily Crime information (previously available on the HBNW Blog)
In the picture below, two laptops have been secured by a strong, lockable steel cable which is attached to a table leg or strong bolt underneath the table.The cable is very difficult to cut. All laptops have this facility and the cable is available at all computer shops.
The thief most likely doesn't walk around with a bolt cutter and probably won't have time to remove the cable.
With laptops being such desirable items in house robberies, we thank Robert, The Hireman for this handy tip. As he says, “Don’t think it can’t happen to me”.
We welcome input from our members so please pass on your security tips and, if relevant, we will publish them and acknowledge the contributor. Read more tips>>
We hope you will find it informative and easy to navigate. As with all websites, there is plenty of scope to grow and develop the content and general functionality.
Rest assured we have a number of ideas and plans in the pipeline that aim to keep the information fresh and relevant to the objectives of our neighbourhood watch. However we are always open to your ideas. Please contact us with your suggestions. Click here >>
New to Hout Bay
Welcome! Hout Bay has a small village atmosphere and loves to welcome new people. A great way to meet people and to get involved in the community is to join Hout Bay Neighbourhood Watch.
There are many ways to get involved. If you can't patrol, then there are other ways for you to contribute to the community. See how you can get involved.
Thank you for taking our Jan/Feb poll. Here are the results:
Do you have a neighbourly approach to security?
85% - Yes I always try to look out for my neighbours
12% - I sometimes keep an eye on neighbouring properties
3% - I will if they will
0% - They're on their own - I'm not interested
Members' Forum
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