Residents meet new Bramley Police Station Commander

The Bramley Police Station has a new captain at the helm with the recent appointment of a new station commander, Colonel Owen King.

King, who was previously stationed at the Sandton Police Station, took over the post on 1 September and expressed his readiness to work closely with the community to fight crime.

The police veteran, with nearly 30 years’ experience in the South African Police Service, talked passionately about his new post, explaining that taking it on was not as daunting, as he had already familiarised himself with the position prior to taking it up.

“At my previous post, where I worked as a Visible Policing operations officer and did coordination, I worked closely with the station commander and got a feel of what the job entailed,” he said.

“Seeing the work that went into it, I knew I had the capability to lead, and I took it up, not as a challenge, but because I knew I could do it.”

King started his professional career in 1987 at the Langlaagte Police Station before moving on to Halfway House and then Johannesburg Central police stations before finally being stationed at Sandton in 2006, where he was based until recently.

With only a few days on the job, a confident King expressed his readiness to make a difference within the community, get the necessary results and change the picture of crime in the community. Furthermore, he also stressed the need to deal with challenges such as contact crimes, which have been in the spotlight since the release of the latest crime statistics, in partnership with the stakeholders.

“We also have to deal with the challenges of bylaw-related issues, which we need to form a partnership with the community to deal with, rather than not get involved at all; partnership with the community is the most important thing because people must be happy and have a sense of feeling safe.”

Speaking of what he looked forward to the most, King said that it was, obviously, reducing contact crimes, as well as being more proactive within the community police forum.

He concluded by reiterating the importance of working together with the community, stressing the importance of being a team player and fostering new relationships. “We need to be free with our community and to bridge any divide that may exist between the community and the police.”

Also read: Bramley CPF encourages community participation

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