The railway police have arrested 7 487 people during the last 10 weeks, the National Rail-Crime Combating Forum said in a statement on Wednesday.
”The presence of policemen and policewomen within the rail environment is certainly having a huge impact on crime prevention as well as the safety of commuters,” the forum said.
The arrests were made during a national crime-prevention and crime-combating operation within the rail environment, focusing on passenger trains.
Rail police arrested 202 people for contact crimes such as attempted murder, rape, armed robbery and assault. In total, 13 firearms were seized.
The police recovered stolen property with a total value of more than R1-million. This included 18 stolen motor vehicles and stolen copper.
”We have received overwhelming support from commuters … and we are experiencing a significant reduction in crime in this environment,” the forum said. — Sapa