Police chief claims 50% dip in Karachi street crimes

As the city continues to witness killings and injuries at the hands of muggers, Karachi Police chief Javed Alam Odho Friday claimed incidents of street crimes have seen a 50% dip in the first quarter of 2024.

According to the city's top cop, who assumed the role in July this year, the police has a special focus on eliminating street crimes.

Odho, last week, had directed his department to proceed with combing operations, increased patrolling and other operational operations to end crime in the metropolis.

Speaking during Geo News programme 'Geo Pakistan', the police chief said that the metropolis requires a modern command and control center to tackle crimes.

"In the first phase of the Safe City project, 25% of the cameras will be installed," he said, revealing the project's progress.

The Safe City project, which has been years in the making for the mega city, has seen a snail's speed progress, leaving the city vulnerable to increasing crimes.

Last month, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah also gave an update on the project, stating that it is a significant step toward establishing Karachi as a safer city through enhanced surveillance and response capabilities.

In a meeting, Shah had said he had got the work on the project’s first phase significantly accelerated. The project, aimed at enhancing public safety and security, has reached several key milestones, he added.

Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ghulam Nabi Memon said that 1,300 cameras would be installed at different locations. All 300 pole site surveys and 18 points of presence (POP) site surveys have been completed, he added.

At least 50 poles have been installed so far, with work under way at the remaining sites, while the control room and data centre equipment, along with a video wall, have been installed at the Central Police Office (CPO), receiving live feed through 35 cameras installed at seven locations, said provincial minister Sharjeel Memon.

Odho, meanwhile, maintained that the police has arrested a major criminal gang from the Site Super Highway area.

He added that suspects involved in the major incidents of robbery in Karachi have been arrested, as there is now immense improvement in the city police's investigation methods.

He lamented the killing of a police officer in the city on Thursday while he courageously fought with robbers and killed one of them.

"The official who was martyred yesterday is being nominated for the civil award," he said.

Commenting on the issue of increasing terrorism in the country, Odho maintained that anti-terrorism support is crucial in countering terrorism. "What is needed to eradicate terrorism is different from other crimes."

Street crimes in Karachi are rampant with more than 50,000 incidents documented by the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) between January and August this year.

It should be noted that the aforementioned number only reflects reported cases, but there may be countless other incident that have gone unreported.

The figure shows that on an average, 208 criminal cases are reported on a daily basis in the city, with the snatching and stealing of mobile phones, cars and motorbikes being the most common.

Not only have people been deprived of their valuable possessions in these cases but some 100 people have also lost their lives at the hands of the street criminals. Nearly 500 others have also been wounded due to the gunshots fired by the robbers.