CAPITAL CRIME WATCH

Thank you very much for all your emails and text messages regarding Kenyans' safety. We are playing our part, so please play yours.

Thanks to Myra for her email below.

Hi Seanice and Fareed,
I'm Myra. Thanx so much for this crime watch thing it gives us an opportunity to warn other unsuspecting Kenyans so they dont fall victims.
I go to a college in Tom Mboya street. Looking out the window for an hour (I'd appreciate if we overlooked the fact that I waste time in class, and this is between us) I witnessed six people robbed off their mobile phones not to mention the ladies' handbags. Some young lads follow you from the Tusker Supermarket posing just as any other human with somewhere to go to. If by any chance you are having a phone or handbag, just after Ukwala supermarket there is a small passage to a backstreet, here is where whatever you are carrying is snatched and they go through there to the other street. People who are brave enough to follow their lost possessions are stopped in their tracks by another group who have all sorts of crude weapons and they dare you to come any closer while the thief just stands behind them looking at you like "Keep moving". I'm telling you the sight alone is frustrating. It gets better when it rains and this is now like a daily routine because the young lads are there everyday.
Please warn people not to answer their calls on that street and to always be careful when walking Tom Mboya, along the Tusker Supermaket through to Odeon cinema. Thanx again.
Myra

Below are two text messages received.

PICK POCKETS - ROUTE NUMBERS 6, 8 AND 46.
VIOLENT SNATCHERS - CALIFORNIA EST NEAR PANGANI, MOI AVENUE AND HARAMBEE AVENUE.
MOBILE THEFT- RACECOURSE ROAD.
CARJACKERS - UTHIRU, KINOO AND GACHIE.

There are thugs operating along Wayaiki Way in mornings harassing motorists. Shomba

Below are a few tips to help you all stay safe:

Carjacking Avoidance

Have a Personal Security Plan:
What if :
Car breaks down- who do I call?
Lose cell phone?
If I get lost?
Suspicious car following?
Pre-plan before a trip, no matter how small
Kenya is classified at a critical security level. Crime is rampant.

Avoidance by awareness:

• 50% of carjackings are successful. About 50 – 70 everyday in Nairobi.
• May occur at anytime of day or night.
• May occur in areas with little or no security
• Criminals may be operating with the complicity of local police or military.

If a gun is pointed at you the reality is you will be scared. The criminals will also have heightened adrenaline. Don't believe everything you read in the newspapers.

Motivation:

• Economic – using cars to commit more crime
• Criminal

The number one car is “the one that will do”. In many cases carjackers are only interested in items of value and the vehicle. Some start on foot at the beginning of the day and move onto vehicles.

Tactics Used:

• Usually not alone, often work in gangs
• Usually armed
• Weapons of choice dictated by existing conditions and availability. In Kenya – hand guns; knives and long guns (AK-47).
• Ideal attack sites: high crime areas

Lesser travelled roads

Intersections where you have to stop

Isolated areas of parking lots

Residential driveways – have lights, trim hedges, ring guards that you are close.

Traffic jams, congested areas (even Uhuru Highway ) use side mirrors.

* The Bump – You are bumped from behind. When you get out, your vehicle is taken. Check area before getting out. Wave to the person behind to follow you to a safer spot or police station. Check their car , if more than one male be suspicious. Also can get caught between two cars, are accomplices.

* The Good Samaritan – Someone tries to get your attention to ask for help or feigns an emergency and asks for a lift. Or a woman with baby in blanket, baby is a gun! Do not stop, if feel guilty use a cell phone and ring police. If you break down you do not have to wait with the car, find a duka.

* The Ambush – Usually occurs when your vehicle is stopped by rocks or bushes on road. Attackers approach and force you out. Usually involves a weapon. Do you have to stop? Avoid, go around, turn around. Roadblock on a T intersection.

Countermeasures:

• Travel with windows up and doors locked.
• Utilize rear and side view mirrors to spot danger
• Don't make it obvious you have a cell phone

Your brain is your most useful and vital tool

Awareness and avoidance:

Criminals never come out of “nowhere”- you weren't paying attention

Have a plan- what if…?

Know your surroundings.

If things just “don't feel right” - they probably aren't.

Added Precautions:

• Do not stop to assist strangers
• Park in secure, well lit areas
• Separate your house keys from your ignition keys
• don’t carry ATM or credit cards. Always have some spare cash, 500/- to 1,000/-.
• Carry a radio or mobile with you.
• Have important phone numbers memorised, if mobile stolen…
• Play the what if game
• Sell your car and buy a tank!
• If vehicle stopped- do not resist- talk loud, listen, tell criminal what you are doing

- do not hesitate- ultimate goal is to survive- your car is not worth your life

• If you feel you may be a potential target for a carjacking get out of the area immediately- contact help.
• If someone following- go around the block- go to the nearest police station.
• If carjacking does occur be able to answer afterwards - who? What? Where? When? And why?

Summary:

• Most carjackers only interested in items of value and the vehicle
• Attacks can occur at any time of day or night
• A majority of incidents involve weapons
• In most reported cases, victims who did not resist were not injured
• If confronted by armed attackers, it’s too late- comply.