The Fairland Community Policing Forum (CPF) recently announced their plans to establish several new groups to enhance and complement the already existing services in the community.
Mahmood Cassim of the CPF said, “Our vision is to establish a number of essential services operating under the CPF umbrella which will benefit the community in the event of emergencies.”
These groups are not created to replace existing essential services but rather to equip the community with people to attend to emergencies while awaiting municipal or professional services to arrive.
Cassim said, “There is a dire need to build a self-sufficient community able to cope with any emergency.”
The groups they have listed are as follows:
- Medical: Establish a team who can administer first aid and later train them to progress to full medical emergencies
- Traffic control: Patrollers will need to undergo a full course in traffic control under the guidance and sanctioned by Metro police in order to assist with traffic issues during emergencies.
- Firefighters: Starting with the basics of home safety progressing through to fire-fighting techniques
- Youth desk: A space dedicated to the younger members of society. They will get involved in community work and be taught how to cope with modern-day pressures, keep them off the streets, and prepare them for the challenges that lay ahead
- Self-defence: A two-tiered (unarmed self-defence and fire-arm training) program to equip residents with lifesaving skills
- Drug abuse: A community-based group that can recognise drugs, drug abuse and assist in rehabilitating addicts.
This all comes after the success of groups started earlier in the year.
The victim support unit, headed by Dr Sally Röthemeyer has had a productive and busy year and plan to have a new intake of trainee victim support members in the new year.
The night patrollers are another example of a successful CPF initiative.
Cassim said, “Our recently formed patrollers group started with seven members and has grown to twenty-one strong in under five months. It is fully functional and has gained momentum as community members have become aware of our operational successes.”
The executive of the Fairland CPF is confident that once these initiatives are established and running, it will place the Fairland CPF way ahead of any other CPF in the country. Cassim concluded,
“It may not be possible to establish all these initiatives at once, but we need to start working now toward getting these programs functioning, one step at a time, in bite-sized increments.”
Details: Mahmood Cassim cassim221@hotmail.com
