Parks are not shelter
While most residents are sound asleep, the members of the Linden Neighborhood Watch (LNW) patrol the streets to ensure the safety of everyone.
On 28 June the LNW was accompanied by the Sector 1 Douglasdale Community Policing Forum (CPF) braved the bitter cold weather for a special operation in Linden.
Sector 1 CPF chairperson Margaret van Zweiten said, “We want to learn from the LNW and see what they do in their area. Its always good to see what other areas are doing, which gives us ideas for what may work better in our area.”
The operation started in the park next to Dale Brook Crescent, where several vagrants were found sleeping near the river in between the reeds. A few vagrants were also found sleeping in different substations in the suburb. LNW chairperson Fareed Hoosen said, “When we find vagrants sleeping in the parks and substations we take a photo of them and create a record of who they are. If they are found in the area repeatedly we will call for help and make sure they get charged for illegal camping. When I checked the fingers of one of the park vagrants, I found that he had been filing his finger-prints off in order to avoid being linked to any crimes. This is a huge concern and we need to get these people out of the area.”
For the rest of the night the suburb was quiet except for one or two false alarms. “Some nights are quiet, but we still keep patrolling so the criminals know we are here and we are watching them. Thank you to the Sector 6 CPF for joining us and to ADT Security for their continuous support,” said Hoosen.
Details: Linden Neighborhood Watch 076-413-7184.
