Karachi crime

Karachi’s notorious street crime epidemic shows no signs of coming to an end as a young factory worker was killed while resisting a robbery attempt on Wednesday night in the city’s Surjani Town area. This latest incident brings the number of people killed during mugging and robbery crimes in the business capital to 100 this year, while around 700 to 800 individuals have been injured due to mugging attempts. Apart from the killings and injuries, losing one’s hard-earned money and valuables to armed criminals continues to be an inevitable part of life in Karachi. The city has seen more than 50,000 criminal incidents during the first eight months of 2024. This includes more than 35,041 motorbike theft and snatching incidents, over 15,000 mobile phones, over 1,173 cases of car theft and snatching, 15 cases of kidnapping for ransom and 63 cases of extortion. This means that, on average, over 200 street crime cases occur daily in the city, which brings the monthly figure to 6,250 incidents. Shockingly, this means that crime is actually on track to be lower in 2024 as compared to 2023 and 2022, which saw 90,000 and 80,000 criminal incidents, respectively. Rather than being a sign of progress against crime, these figures indicate that even when crime in Karachi is relatively low, it is still far too high.

It is also important to note that criminal incidents that do not result in deaths or injuries are often not reported. The underreporting of crime reflects the fact that many citizens have become apathetic about the problem and do not trust the authorities to tackle the problem with the urgency that it deserves. Simply getting a case filed is an expense that is beyond most of the city’s working people and the authorities have not been able to eradicate the fear of retaliation for speaking out about crime. Interestingly, this crime wave appears to be happening even though there have been numerous reports of police encounters resulting in robbers being killed or injured. This goes to show that reaching for the ‘hammer’ is not always the right approach to crime or is necessary but insufficient.

Karachi has been host to many anti-crime operations and, while levels of violence in the city have undeniably declined from years past, street crime continues to be a widespread menace. It is clear that deeper structural changes are needed to solve the crime problem on a long-term basis. The judicial system has to get better at resolving cases in an expeditious manner, witnesses and victims have to feel protected by the authorities, and more needs to be done to restore citizens’ trust in the police. The police force itself needs more help in the form of better training, resources and compensation. Officers on the front lines of fighting crime are being asked to put their lives on the line when many of them are barely earning enough to survive. Beyond these measures, one must admit that given Karachi’s deep-rooted inequality, poverty and lack of socioeconomic justice, the city has become a fertile ground for crime. A city where millions have little access to economic security or basic amenities is unlikely to know any peace.