Policing or lack thereof?

Talha Randeree

Numerous complaints regarding the response time of the police in Newcastle have been received, with a number of people fearing the consequences of the alleged slow reactions of police.

In one incident, a resident alleged they had contacted the police regarding an armed robbery. However, the person in the radio room was allegedly unhelpful and could not find any assistance for the victims.

A further allegation stated the person contacted a nearby police-van and the officials inside did not take heed of their calls for help.

Police spokesperson, Captain Shooz Magudulela explained: “We do not understand how this could have happened. The systems we have in place at the radio and control room allows us to manage each and every call that comes in. The system makes sure we assist each call individually and we have time-limits to make sure we are fast.”

He believed there was only one reason why a complaint could not be assisted immediately.

“Sometimes we may not have the personnel or a vehicle available to attend to a complaint immediately. The police cover a large area, and this is a problem when we are understaffed or when there is a lot of stuff happening at the time.”

Capt. Magudulela believed the community played an important role in curbing crime, but also needed to educate themselves on the steps involved in crime eradication.

He called for the community to stand up and work with the police.

“We cannot be everywhere. We do not have the funds or manpower for this,” he admitted. However, he also urged the community to join organisations like the CPF to help police arrest criminals.

Furthermore, Capt. Magudulela believed the police were doing a good job in Newcastle.

“We are still within our target reaches. We are fighting for a crime free city. We will try to achieve this no matter how long it takes!”