One of the priorities of the Fairland police is to raise awareness for the Fairland Community Policing Forum.
Fairland Police Station Commander, Colonel Clive de Freitas said they plan to expand the forum this year among residents. The crime statistics for the previous year were not as high and police plan to improve on these figures. Compared to other areas, the station is doing well.
“Our area is more confined and we have a lot support from our security companies who assist to combat crime in the area. They have four more vehicles than we do, so we partly rely on them and they are happy to oblige.
“We would like to focus on new initiatives like attending to an abandoned building in the area, which may be contributing to crime,” said De Freitas.
He said if residents have identified bad buildings, they should inform the police now in order for them to go evaluate the situation and assist where possible.
“So far the police have identified four bad buildings which they are attending to. If they identify a problem and cannot handle it alone, the police can get additional assistance from their cluster police stations.
“The cluster is currently running a project with all the stations.
The Minister of Police, Fikile Mbalula mentioned in his opening speech of Operation Fiela last week that he wants to address the issue of these bad buildings in the city and combat the crime which takes place in them. So we are embarking on the same campaign as the minister.”
The station commander believes the owners of the buildings need to be established and must make sure the residents who are renting out those spaces live in decent conditions.
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