Parkview Police Station and their Victim Support Unit visited their second school to hand out armbands for safety on 8 November. They visited Jan Celliers Laerskool to spread their message of being safe and why the emergency contact number armbands can help them.
Sergeant Iris Phoko of Parkview Police Station and two members from the victim support unit, Debbi Buurman and Bart Cox, are making it their duty to inform schoolchildren that there is help should they require it.
The purpose of their visit was to distribute the bands to the pupils and educate them as to what the bands are for. “The armbands have the police and the victim support unit contact numbers. This will help the pupils always remember to be safe when they look at it and also that help is just a call away,” said Phoko.
She added that they could also make use of the numbers if they had just been robbed and needed to contact someone, or been involved in an accident, and when their lives or another person’s life is in danger.
“They must not be scared of police officers because we are here to help, protect and serve. Parents should stop scaring their children using the police’s name because they are there to protect them, police don’t arrest children or hurt them,” stressed Phoko.
Burman and Cox explained to children that the victim support offers counselling to victims of crime and that they are based at the station and accessible at any time. The victim support unit is staffed by a group of trained volunteers who are dedicated to assisting victims of crime or those who have suffered trauma. They are contactable through either the Parkview or Rosebank police stations.
The unit covers the following suburbs:
Parkview precinct:
- Glendadrienne, Greenside, Greenside East, Hurlingham
- Hurlingham Gardens, Parkhurst, Parktown North, Parktown (west of M1)
- Parktown West, Parkview, Riepen Park, Roosevelt Park and Westcliff
- Clynton, Craighall, Craighall Park, Dunkeld West, Emmarentia
Rosebank precinct:
- Rosebank, Dunkeld, Parkwood, Forest Town and Saxonwold. Armbands were donated by the Parkview Community Policing Forum and the Victim Support Unit.
Details: Parkview Police Station 011 067 6000; Victim Support Unit 073 280 4453.
