Top Cop nominee, Captain Martyn Jacobs, for Visual Policing this May

This month’s nomination for Best Visual Policing (external) is Captain Martyn Jacobs, who oversees Echo Relief team 1 and has worked at Douglasdale Police Station since early 2015.

Although he has been nominated in his personal capacity, Jacobs believes that his work isn’t really about him.

“In my time in Echo team, I’ve come to believe that it’s not about the individual,” Jacobs said. “I’m so blessed to have such a motivated team by my side because if I was working just as an individual, I couldn’t go forward. It’s the whole team’s focus on the end goals that have made us so successful.”

Jacobs was nominated this month for his involvement in the investigation into a drug lab in the Douglasdale area. On 17 May, Jacobs was contacted by the Johannesburg Public Order police to ask for Echo’s assistance in the investigation.

“I can’t get into specifics because this incident is still under investigation, but I can tell you that someone had set up a drug lab somewhere in the Douglasdale area.”

The unnamed suspect had set up the illegal operation inside a residential property, having converted the house’s double garage into a greenhouse of sorts to grow marijuana plants for sale.

“[The operation] had set up a hydroponic lab, which means that they had set up a system with irrigation and sprinklers so that the plants could be watered with a liquid that also included additional plant food.

“We found about 250 dagga plants in the house, some were quite small while others were tree-sized. We also found three unlicensed firearms and one suspect was taken into police custody.”

Jacobs and his team were on the scene for about 12 hours, which is all in a day’s work when you are a dedicated police officer.

While speaking to Fourways Review about his Top Cop nomination, Jacobs asked that no photos of him be taken in fear that it would jeopardise any future police investigations.

“I’m not too sure that criminals on the street read newspapers,” he joked. “But there’s a good chance that their bosses might.”

Don’t forget to vote for your favourite #TopCop nominee on our Top Cop page!

Check out the other nominees for this month at the Douglasdale Police Station:

Nominee for this month’s Top Cop, Best Support, at Douglasdale Police Station

Nominee for Top Cop this May: Best Relief Team

NOMINEE: Sergeant Donald Sekomane is a detective who goes beyond the call of duty

Top Cop Award nomination for best vispol at Douglasdale Police Station this May