Local councillor disappointed in Hillcrest SAPS service
Councillor, Rick Crouch, said residents have lost faith in Hillcrest SAPS. Let us know of your experience at the station.
“FOR sometime now the Hillcrest SAPS station has been in a crisis, and it is getting worse.” This is according to Ward 10 councillor, Rick Crouch.
He said residents of Hillcrest have lost faith and confidence in the Hillcrest SAPS station, so much so that many residents that live in the area policed by the Hillcrest SAPS station prefer to go down to the Kloof sub-station to open a case or file a complaint.
“Some of the recent issues include a member of a neighbourhood watch being physically beaten up at the station by a member of the public while police officers looked on and did nothing and a reluctance to open cases to name a few.
“In another incident, the response time to an armed robbery two kilometres away was more than 30 minutes and on the way they passed the robbers who went on to commit another armed robbery a few minutes later. Apparently there was only one usable vehicle,” Crouch claimed.
“There appears to be an ‘I don’t care’ attitude by the officers and a reluctance to open cases. I have experienced this first hand. After an attempt by a taxi driver to deliberately run me off the road I immediately went to Hillcrest SAPS to open a case.
“There was reluctance from the officers at the desk to open the case and when I pressed them they said they would go to the taxi rank and find who was driving the taxi. They assured me they would call me later that same day to open a case.
“I waited a full week and then emailed the station commander. A few days later I got a call to come in and open a case, which I did. Then more than a week later a Cst Ndlovu contacted me and wanted to know why I waited so long to open a case.
“To cut a long story short, they now tell me the driver has disappeared and they cannot find him. This happens daily and the taxpayers are sick and tired of it. There must be an intervention at the station and any change must start at the top.
“I get constant complaints from the informal settlement that there is an abuse of power by members of the Hillcrest SAPS station,” Crouch alleged.
The provincial SAPS office has been asked to respond and comment to Crouch’s allegations.
More updates to follow.
What has been your experience of the Hillcrest SAPS? Let us know in comment section below.
