CPF debuts ride-along campaign
The campaign allows members of the public to join CPF on patrols and see what they do to help fight crime in town.
The Brakpan CPF started their ride-along campaign on Friday evening.
The campaign aims to start taking members of the public along on patrols from next year so that they can see how the CPF works and what is happening in town while everyone is seeking safety in their homes.
Citizens who are looking to join the CPF and patrol their community can use this opportunity to see what the volunteer work entails and how the forum conducts itself.
“You have to remember you are working with the public, so treat them with respect but be firm,” said chairperson Tinus Jordaan in a meeting with patrollers before they headed out.
“You aren’t heroes and you aren’t invincible. If there is a crime in progress and your safety is threatened in any way, stay back and wait for the police.”
The CPF have to vet patrollers carefully as sometimes a person will join the CPF to get an opportunity to enact vigilante justice or take out their frustrations on criminals in illegal and unethical ways.
CPF patrollers are not law enforcement. They are community watchdogs and while they can make citizen’s arrests, they are not allowed to forcibly search any suspects without a SAPS member present.
They are also not allowed to confiscate any weapons or criminal implements from suspects unless they believe they are in imminent danger, without a SAPS member present.
The CPF is registered under SAPS and acts as a statutory body. They work with SAPS to combat crime and SAPS is often involved in CPF operations and patrols as support and for oversight.
One of the CPF’s current concerns is homelessness and it is planning on having a conference in the next year with the Ekurhuleni Homeless Forum to try to develop a plan to get homeless people off the streets.
In the meantime, the CPF is working along with SAPS to keep the streets clean by confiscating drugs, weapons and illegal possessions.
Nightly patrols take members to dangerous areas in town to monitor and report crime, make citizen arrests and track stolen vehicles or vehicles used in the commission of a crime. Anyone interested in joining the CPF on a ride-along may contact Jordaan on 083 768 5506.
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