POLICE officers in Nadi have been faced with a high number of burglaries.

While speaking at the Nadi Chamber of Commerce and Industry business forum, Nadi Police Station officer in charge Assistant Superintendent of Police Shiu Chand said burglaries have increased in Nadi over the past three years.

“Looking at the figures, in 2015 we had 97, in 2016 we had 135,” he said. “In 2017 it went down to 114.”

He said theft was also an issue in Nadi.

“Most of our cases of theft that we record are minor cases with everyday items stolen like mobile phones.

“It mostly happens in night-clubs because people leave their items unattended at certain points of the night and it is during these times their belongings are stolen.

“For theft, in 2015 there was a spike of cases recorded with a total of 506 being reported to police.

“In 2016, we had 355 cases and 2017 was 280.

“These theft cases were not only confined to stolen mobile phones, this also included theft of animals like cows, goats and horses.”

ASP Chand said another ocurring offence that the Nadi-based police officers had to address were assault.

“In 2016, we recorded 444 cases of assault while in 2017 we had a total of 331 cases reported to us.”

He said with Nadi’s fast growth, the police would look to other districts for assistance.

“Almost every week there is an event happening in Nadi so what we do is we bring in resources from other districts.

“We put a request to the different districts asking for assistance and they provide that by way of manpower or vehicles.

“This is to help us beef up security and presence during these events.”