Moffatview Police failing the community

I am extremely angry with the Police Services in general. My area is under the jurisdiction of the Moffatview Police Station and I shall herewith direct my complaints at them.

I live in Townsview and on the evening of January 1 I saw black smoke coming from a property behind mine. On investigation it did not appear to be a braaivleis fire but had a strange smell like burning rubber or plastic.

In view of the fact that in the previous two weeks we had just had three cable thefts disrupting our electricity supply, I felt that this could be connected to the incidents.

I called the Moffatview Police Station directly and asked them to come and investigate this while the burning was happening.

They promised to send a vehicle immediately. When no one had arrived within half an hour I phoned again, and again they promised to call immediately. No one came and no one phoned me back.

We are always asked to be vigilant and work with the police and when we try the police do not reciprocate the courtesy.

Further I want to complain about calls made to the station about burglaries from a house in Lang Street, Rosettenville Extension. Aside from some forty break-ins since around June 2013, the house was broken into at least three times; on Saturday January 25, Sunday and early hours of Monday. The police were called by the Security company but they did not open a case on that day.

Sometimes the police come without the necessary paperwork to open a case. My suspicion is that they are reluctant to do so as to keep the crime statistics low.

On Monday my friend went shopping and on returning found the thieves had been back. He called the police but they did not come. Later I phoned and they did not come. I then phoned the Sector manager of the crime forum who advised I should phone the Patrol car. My friend did that and they promised to call as soon as they finished writing up a case nearby. An hour later he called again and they promised to come. Another half hour later he called again and the phone call was dropped. The Patrol car never arrived.

With this kind of lethargic activity by the police, how will we ever reduce crime?

I am really fed up with our so-called police services and feel we need a real shake-up in the police force.

I welcome anyone in this area who feels the same to contact me by email.

Friedrich Kruger

friedrich.kruger@gmail.com

#News Editor – This letter was sent to Moffatview Police for comment on Thursday January 30, at going to press there was still no response.