LISTEN: Police conduct a foot patrol and fact-finding operation
Community key to fighting crime.
On July 31, South African police officials with the help of crime prevention volunteers, took to the streets of Eldorado Park in hopes of creating awareness and decreasing the high crime rate the area is afflicted by.
Major- general Patricia Rampota from the Soweto East Cluster (SEC) and her team of eager officers organised the foot patrol so they could show the community their willingness to interact with residents in order to get rid of the crime and drug problem in the area.
“Today, we are doing a foot patrol and a fact-finding mission, this means that we will interact with residents in the community so they can tell us what they expect from us and how we can work together. We are willing to work on the ground and get involved as much as we can,” said Rampota.
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The SEC is comprised of five police stations which are; the Eldorado Park, Kliptown, Diepkloof, Orlando and Meadowlands police stations.
The cluster organises regular foot patrols in order to provide visible policing within the communities. During the foot patrol, crime prevention volunteers and police officials handed out crime and drug pamphlets to educate the community.
They also conducted random searches and cars and homes were searched for illegal substances.
According to captain Hitler Ngwenya, the communications officer at the Kliptown Police Station the patrols help the police tremendously.
“The idea is to gain trust from residents, we want to show them that we are willing to do the work. In most cases when residents see us patrolling, they are hesitant to commit crimes and that is the goal, to eventually get rid of crime in the area,” he said.
Residents and business owners in Eldorado Park said that they appreciated the effort the police officials are making.
“We are tired of the drug problem and crimes that happen every day, maybe with increased police visibility, these criminals will be caught and our streets and children will be clean,” said Nathaniel Isaacs, an Extension Eight resident.
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