Street crime Karachi's biggest problem: Top cop

Islamabad [Pakistan], January 8 : Additional Inspector General of Karachi Police Javed Alam Odho has said that street crime is Karachi's biggest problem, reported Pakistan-based The News International newspaper.
According to Odho, the Karachi Police has in the last year, arrested 36,000 suspects in connection with various crimes. He said that most of the street criminals were identified through CCTV cameras.
Street crime is happening but those involved are being arrested through CCTV camera footage, said Odho. He said the Safe City project is currently in process of being launched.
He also said that they are stressing on cameras being installed in Karachi in collaboration with the public-private sector, adding that the Karachi police have been working on the project for the past four years, according to The News International Newspaper.
Odho said that Karachi's business community and business organisations are supporting the police in the project. He said the police through the help of traders, has installed over 5,000 cameras, while more than 30,000 cameras have been installed across Karachi.
CCTV camera footage has played an important role in catching the killers of Bilal, who had been shot dead a few days ago, the Additional Inspector General said, according to The News International report.
According to Odho, through collaboration with Karachi community policing, CCTV cameras have been installed at the Azizabad, Nazimabad and Malir City police stations.
Over 200 cameras had been installed in North Nazimabad, he said, adding that the crime rate had dropped drastically in the police stations where cameras had been installed.
With the completion of the Safe City project, a clear reduction in street crime would be witnessed, said Odho.
Recently, Geo News reported that amid the deteriorating law and order situation in the country, Karachi has witnessed an "alarming increase" in street crime, exacerbated by the recent floods.
A meeting of the Senate Standing Committee was held on Friday under the chair of Senator Mohsin Aziz, where the police officials reviewed the city's overall law and order situation and expressed concerns over the sharp rise in street crimes.
They assessed the performance of the Sindh Police in preventing street crimes, including theft, robbery, kidnapping, murder and target killings in detail, Geo News reported.
The police officials told the committee that after the recent floods, there had been an "extraordinary increase" in street crimes in the city, adding that the police officers have been directed to lodge FIRs.
Sharing the data about the cases, the police officers said that 42,669 crime incidents were reported in 2011, 39,694 in 2015, 61,244 in 2020 and 84,045 in 2021.
Moreover, 385 people were killed in 2018 and 393 people in 2021, while 369 suspected killers were arrested till August 31, 2022, Geo News reported.