Crime in W’aria discussed at public meeting
Drugs among the youth and the relationship between the public and police are some of the issues discussed at the meeting in Westonaria.
The Westonaria Police held a public meeting with the community at the Westonaria Banquet Hall on Wednesday, 23 October, to reinforce its commitment to eradicating crime in the area.
According to Colonel Selvan Moonsamy, the Westonaria Police station commander, the aim of the meeting was to share information with the community to identify the challenges the community faces.
Two of the major issues facing the community are the use of and dealing in drugs among the youth, and the relationship between the public and the police.
We needed to consult with the community in order to resolve the issue of crime in Westonaria and create partnerships by getting all the stakeholders involved,” Moonsamy said.
“We believe that interacting with them will show us the areas where police presence is lacking, and enable us to improve matters,” Moonsamy added.
He went on to say relations between the police and the community are very important because police cannot completely eradicate crime on their own.
“We [the police] have many policing awareness programmes, through which community members are able to come on board through the CPF, but unfortunately the communities are not aware of them.”
However, Moonsamy said the biggest challenge that the community of Westonaria is facing is the poor response and turn around time of the police.
He went on to say, “If there is a house-breaking taking place somewhere, I do not expect people to phone me – they need to phone the Community Service Centre (CSC) and demand that the police be dispatched. But if they see that after 20 to 30 minutes there is no response to their request, they can escalate the matter to me via my cellphone number, which is 082 774 9825.”
