ROBBERIES and street crimes have been on the rise for some time in Karachi. It is not that Karachi is the only city affected by such lawlessness, but, yes, the megacity has been given a ‘preferential’ treatment by the criminals.

Other than conventional crimes, financial fraud with the involvement of technological tools has also risen, and one gets to hear stories of hacked bank accounts and vanishing amounts every other day. The overall environment has left people feeling insecure. In the event of street crimes, people lose not just their hard-earned money or posse- ssions, they also lose their precious lives.

One of the main reasons behind the spike appears to be the economic turmoil in the country that has led to rising unemployment in society. This seems to have pushed people into the world of crimes as a way to survive. This, of course, is not a justification for their criminal acts, but it can surely provide the policy- makers something to work with. You cannot solve a problem if you do not really know what the problem is and what its dimensions are. The lack of job opportunities pushes people to do illegal activities including theft and robberies.

To resolve the problem, it is important for the government to work with communities, increase police patrolling, establish pickets of law-enforcement agencies, and order regular and tight surveillance through CCTV cameras.

Noor-e-Hira
Karachi

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2023