UMBILO police held the first of a series of workshops on Monday evening, for Community Watches and Forums in the area on important issues that volunteers need to be aware of when doing citizen patrols.
Colonel Manuel Correa of Umbilo SAPS addressed members of the Glenwood Community Watch,on what to do when faced with a criminal. Correa said it was imperative that all community crime watch and safety forums were aware of their rights and restrictions within the law and offered a training session to any interested groups.
Guy Perrins, Chairman of the Glenwood Community Watch said the Umbilo South African Police training workshop was helpful in terms of understanding the law in terms of the circumstances under which individuals could make a citizens arrest. “We wanted to get our patrol members of the Community Watch educated on such critical matters and asked SAPS via the UCPF for this session to assist us. “Today’s meeting was constructive and informative,” he added.
According to Perrins, there are more than 300 members that receive Glenwood Community Watch email newsletters of achievements and progress of the GCW , and other crime related news. There are also approximately 50 members who volunteer to patrol on a regular basis.
“We have a specific roster timed around crime events in our area with generally two hour shifts both for the week days including evenings and on weekends. “We have people who are committed in solidarity against crime on our team from all walks of life.”
The Glenwood Community Watch is run along business principles, fully constituted with a code of conduct and proper protocols followed. “Our aim is to make Glenwood what it used to be, a safe area to live and work in partnership with SAPS and Metro. Through our visibility and interaction with the authorities, we have seen a major change in the area , and the area is being restored to what a normal society should be, with people jogging again and families using the parks. The strategy is simply: Take back the streets from the criminals.”
Eric Cotton, Head of Patrols at Glenwood Community Forum said the workshop, in particular the statistics were very informative.
Umbilo Cluster Commander, Brigadier James Sayer reiterated that community members’ safety “is of paramount importance.” “Don’t get yourself into trouble, we are here for you. There is a renewed focus on partnerships and this is encouraging because every bit helps. Our aim is to bring crime down to acceptable levels,” he added.
Correa added that it was good to see so many people passionate about ridding the area of crime and grime. “The questions and discussion of doubts of the legal aspects of making citizen’s arrests addressed the community volunteers concerns. We also touched on important aspects of being involved in fighting crime such as vigilantism and how volunteers should not take the law into their own hands. Volunteers should be the eyes and ears of the police,” he added.
