THERE tends to be a spike in crimes such as theft and home invasions when the festive season draws near, says Commissioner of Police Brigadier General Sitiveni Qiliho.
Recently, there have been reports of violent home invasions in communities across the Western Division.
Police have not ruled out the possibility that the robberies were committed by an organised criminal gang .
Speaking to The Fiji Times, Brig-Gen Qiliho said crimes of a violent nature were of concern.
“This is a period traditionally where such offences tend to spike,” he said.
“So my advice to members of the public is to take more precautions. Unfortunately, like I’ve said, the police force is quite stretched so people need to look after their own personal security first.”
According to Brig-Gen Qiliho, there were also instances of jewellery snatching and theft of valuables during the festive season. He said if members of the public planned to be out of their homes, they should inform their neighbours to keep an eye on their properties.
“Get friendly with your neighbours so that you look after each other. We have neighbourhood watch schemes, we have community policing and while this looks good on paper, it needs to get down to the practical part too.
“People need to look after each other. Otherwise, we cannot be focused on one area providing hourly patrols when we need to look after the others as well.”
Brig-Gen Qiliho maintained that police would continue with their jobs despite incidences of police personnel getting injured on the job in the past few weeks.
