Community issues tackled at public meeting
HOUGHTON – Norwood Community Police Forum addresses burning issues.
Norwood community members and various stakeholders attended a public meeting to address crime and social issues in the community. Norwood Community Police Forum held the meeting at Houghton Primary School on March 23.
Chairman of the forum Wayne Preston said there had been a notable change in Norwood in the fight against crime. He said this was due to the fact that the Vispol commander was making good use of security companies as well as the Community in Blue Patrollers (CIB). He added that it wasn’t just the work of the commander but the community as a whole.
Preston introduced the new Norwood Police Station Commander Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Mathe who gave an overview of the precinct as well as the crime statistics for October, November and December last year before he was appointed.
Mathe said the station’s precinct covered 24km² which included two tertiaries, 38 schools, one hospital, seven clinics, nine taxi ranks, and a number of alcohol consumption outlets among many others.
“We have a huge shortage of employees as we have 119 instead of the 151 required. It should be noted, however, that there were changes to our police structure which caused the reduction but I made an appeal to the provincial for the increase of personnel. We have our fleet which is supposed to be 135 but currently, we are sitting at 23 vehicles.”
In terms of crime statistics, Mathe highlighted that some crimes had been reduced and these were murder (one), burglary aggravated (seven) common robbery (15) contact crimes (five) hijacking (seven), and trio crimes (two). On the increase were attempted murder (two), assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm (10), common assault (four) and house robberies (four).
Larry Marks of Sector 1 said the area was plagued by trio crimes (hijackings, robbery at residential premises and robbery at non-residential premises) and beggars. He added there were issues with waste pickers and abandoned properties.
In Sector 2, Preston highlighted problems similar to Sector 1 but included drugs being sold at various liquor outlets as well as unlicensed vendors and unmonitored traffic along Louis Botha Avenue.
In Sector 3 and 4 there were similar problems including animal abuse, illegal dumping and public urination.
Angelo Kostogolou of the CIB said they needed more manpower and resources. He said they currently had 13 members whereas 60 were needed. Resources included bulletproof vests, torches and funds as everything was paid for from their own pockets.
Details: To view detailed updates from the meeting, visit the Norwood Community Police Forum on Facebook
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