Photo: Robyn Kirk
The new station commander for the Douglasdale Police Station has hit the ground running and cannot wait to serve her community.
Brigadier Veeshani Arikum took up the position as the head of the station on 7 October, having come from the role of visible policing coordinator for the Ekurhuleni cluster which she had held since 2016. Having been in the South African Police Service for about 28 years now, Arikum (who is originally from Benoni) describes herself as someone who loves being on the ground for operations and is passionate about serving her community.
“My ideology is this: I don’t have a rich community, I don’t have a poor community, I just have a community that I must serve. I love being on the ground and working with the community,” she told the Fourways Review a few days after she started at the station.
“I’m not sure why they selected me for this position, but I believe that they must have seen something in me that stood out and believe I could make changes and contribute positively to the post.”
Although Arikum has only just started in the role, she is already hard at work as she and her colleagues start working on the first phase of their operation plan for the coming festive season.
Although the area undoubtedly has its challenges, Arikum hopes that the police and community can come together to have a good relationship in the fight against crime. She also hopes the community knows that the station is willing to listen to what they have to say.
“The community is welcome to speak to us and address issues that they might have. We’re open to comments, both positive and negative, and figuring out what we can do to make Douglasdale safer.”
Arikum takes over the position from Colonel Moeti Senna, who performed as acting station commander since the last station commander Brigadier Sammy Thambo left the station in April.
Details: Douglasdale Police Station
011 699 1333.
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