Honeydew Community Police Forum’s Sector 3 hosts monthly meeting to engage with active residents
Meetings held the second Wednesday of every month from 18:30 at church on Florin Road.
Community role-players within Honeydew Police Station’s Sector 3 attended a Community Police Forum (CPF) meeting on Wednesday, February 8.
Held monthly on the second Wednesday of every month, CPF members, residents association chairs, security companies, and members of Honeydew police gather at Strubens Valley United Church on Florin Road for a debriefing on the pressing issues within the sector.
Information on suburb-specific incidents
After brief formalities by chairperson Anthony Beer, the floor was given to the new Sector 3 manager, Warrant Officer Molly Ramukosi, who gave a rundown on the crimes most affecting her sector. Theft in general was the largest reported crime with theft of motor vehicles and theft out of motor vehicles topping the theft subcategories. The most popular day for criminal activity was Friday with peak times for incidents being between 15:00 and 17:00 as well as 12:00 and 14:00.
Warrant Officer Ramukosi listed the suburbs with the highest reported incidents. Strubens Valley ranked first and Wilgeheuwel, Little Falls, and Ruimsig ranked second, third, and fourth, respectively. Although alarming, comfort can be taken as it was revealed that Strubens Valley ranked fifth overall in the Honeydew police precinct in the combined rankings for reported crimes.
Vehicle and property-related crime in Strubens Valley and Little Falls were attributed to the greenbelt running between Witwatersrand Road and Christiaan de Wet Road. CPF and private security noted how suspects are easily lost in the dark fields. Representatives from private security firms suggested installing floodlights to illuminate the area while encouraging residents to invest in beams, cameras, and other deterrents.
The ongoing prevalence of cable theft
Honeydew and the area’s various extensions are among Sector 3’s largest by surface area. The wide open spaces and poorly lit streets are an ideal breeding ground for cable theft and despite the efforts of the Honeydew Residents Association and their Power Rangers, the area is a cable theft hot spot. Adding to the difficulty in tracking suspects, private security elaborated on patterns of cable thieves, stating that vehicles used either enter areas with no license plates or switch them out at convenient locations.
The private operators questioned whether there was a national strategy to combat the problem and Reservist Captain Troy Laas, who is stationed at the police’s provincial office, confirmed that there were plans in place. Captain Laas stated that said plans would be communicated at monthly security cluster meetings held at Honeydew station and added that operational information could not be shared at public meetings to avoid information filtering out to criminals.
Beer outlines the most efficient channels of communication
Communication between CPF members and concerned residents is key to suburban cohesion and relationship management. Anthony was open to suggestions on how best to manage the various groups and stressed his appreciation for the community being their eyes and ears. Anthony touched on the assignment of a dedicated JMPD inspector and asked that all JMPD issues be raised at the sector level whereby they will be escalated to JMPD who will then relay their feedback via the monthly CPF meeting.
Communicating with Honeydew police station can be inconsistent and often load-shedding plays havoc with the communication channels. Anthony requested the community to call 10111 during load-shedding as this was the most efficient way of circumventing challenges. As for social media, all sectors had merged Facebook pages into one CPF Facebook page. When informing the public, Anthony explained that CPF members were not given direct information regarding crime incidents and information on operations could not be shared in advance to not compromise the work of the police.
On the horizon, Warrant Officer Ramukosi hopes to restart domestic worker workshops and more info will be relayed at the next meeting which will be on March 8 from 18:30 at the same venue. In closing, Anthony thanked everyone for their continued involvement, concluding that he ‘can not stress enough for everyone to take care of one another’.
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“Be sure to look out for your neighbours and yourselves.”
