Walvis Bay's Narraville residents have raised alarm over rising crime and drug abuse within their community.

At a recent engagement meeting, locals also voiced frustration over the slow response to calls for help by law enforcement.

Narraville community members said crime and drug abuse are spiralling out of control.

They also expressed concern over homeless people sleeping in cemeteries, a situation they said is driven by hardship and unemployment.

Despite approaching the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security for intervention, they say little has been done.

Another key concern is distrust of the police.

Many residents said they fear reporting drug-related cases because of alleged mistreatment by police officers.

They called on the police to carry out random searches at schools, which they claim have become hubs for drug activity.

"Policing is a daily activity. It must be a daily attitude for the police to be visible in the communities. If the police are not visible, what do you expect? Unlawfulness. Let's start a simple phase, alcohol in the public and the abuse of alcohol in the public. How often do you see the youngsters in the street at the bars? They have checked tables and everything, even on the pavement they park their cars every Friday night and drink alcohol in public."

"What is happening? Vandalism is taking place. Give me one of your family members. They will find out the gravestones. They start to take out steels or the tiles, and they are doing it at night. These are problems, ladies, that complain to say that they are watering the flowers on the graves."

In response, Erongo Police Commander Nikolaus Kupembona said fighting crime is a shared responsibility.