Safety committee conducts oversight at Booysens SAPS
The Booysens area has a high crime rate, and an investigation has been conducted to find out why the police cannot cope.
The Gauteng Provincial Legislature’s portfolio committee on Community Safety conducted an oversight visit on September 19 at the Booysens Police Station to evaluate its efforts in combating crime in the area.
The visit aimed to assess the station’s performance, review its resources, and identify challenges in maintaining peace and order in Booysens.
As part of its oversight visit, the committee engaged with the station leadership, focusing on crime statistics and crime prevention strategies and relations with the community police forum and the JMPD.
During the visit, the committee outlined the station arrested 393 suspects brought before the court in the first quarter of the current financial year. This resulted in the successful conviction of 25 of these suspects.
The station also proactively built stronger community ties through the Adopt A Cop programme introduced at 31 schools within the policing precinct.
Furthermore, the station hosted six dialogues between schools, involving learners, to address critical issues such as bullying, gangsterism, and drugs. These dialogues provided a platform for young people to share their problems and propose solutions among peers.
Despite these successes, the committee noted several challenges faced by the Booysens Police Station.
The station is currently operating with 230 employees, which includes 154 visible police officers, 58 detectives, and 18 support staff.
However, the station is supposed to have 251 employees, highlighting a staffing shortage that could affect its operational efficiency.
In resources, the station is supposed to have 53 vehicles, yet it currently only has 47 with 39 operational as 8 vehicles are undergoing repairs.
This shortage of vehicles further stains the station’s capacity to respond effectively to crime in the precinct.
Of particular concern to the committee is the alarming rise in the number of murders in the area.
During the first quarter of the current financial year, 13 murders were recorded, compared to just three during the same period last year. The significant spike in this crime has raised urgent questions about community safety, as it translates to a 333,3% increase and raises concerns about the effectiveness of crime prevention measures.
Of further concern to the committee is the high number of cases still under investigation, which are 2050.
The committee will continue to monitor the performance of the station and intervene when necessary to address these challenges and reduce crime in the Booysens precinct.
