Douglasdale Sector 1 CPF is active
DOUGLASDALE – Douglasdale Sector 1 CPF Chairperson Charmaine van Rijswijk speaks about her role in the forum.
Criminals beware as the Douglasdale Sector 1 CPF is here.
Charmaine van Rijswijk, the Douglasdale Sector 1 Community Policing Forum (CPF) chairperson, since May of last year, has been a member for over eight years. Van Rijswijk said, “I have an awesome team and together we organise awareness campaigns where we visit shopping centres.”
Sector 1 meetings are held every second Monday of the month. “We have just changed our venue from the Olivedale Library to Green Village, corner of Witkoppen [Road] and Church Street.”
According to her, CPFs still play a immense role in society today. Probably more so than before, especially with regards to the increase in crime.
She adds, “SAPS only have limited resources so rely on us as a community to assist them.” In order to fight the prevalence of crime in the area van Rijswijk commented, “Our neighbourhood watch (NHW) headed up by Sean Gouws is very active and a great asset to the community. We also have many WhatsApp groups and a Facebook group keeping the community informed of suspicious behaviour and vehicles.”
Van Rijswijk’s aim is “to get to know our neighbours and thus keep an eye on each other.” When discussing the issues the community faces van Rijswijk said, “I think apathy in the community is one of our biggest challenges. Also car jamming and theft out of motor vehicles. [We struggle] to educate the community to check that their vehicle is locked and make sure that valuables are locked away.”
Although there are some issues in the Douglasdale community she further added, “We can only beat crime by being aware of our surroundings… knowing your neighbour and having the means to communicate suspicious behaviour and vehicles.”
Details: www.sector1.douglasdalecpf.org.za
