EDITOR – I cannot help wondering what the motivation was, nor the agenda achieved, by councillor Rick Crouch’s letter, in the Highway Mail Friday, 25 September edition.
Firstly, his information regarding the ‘recent’ murder of a Pinetown policeman begs examination. If he is referring to my friend and colleague, W/O Norman John, then he is way off target.
I will not go into the multiple errors in Crouch’s version of events, but wonder why it has taken him a year, almost to the anniversary of the event, to pen these comments.
Does he believe that the police have done nothing to look at the tragedy and put stops in place to avoid a repeat at all costs? Let alone us, his friends and colleagues. Does Crouch believe we need to be reminded and educated by him?
Then, we go to the incident in Hillcrest. I am concerned that, as a ward councillor, evidently with the community’s safety in mind, Crouch observed what he did at Hillcrest SAPS but did not see fit to immediately report it to the station commander, if not the cluster commander, but rather write a letter to be read by the public.
I fail to understand how a letter to a local newspaper is going to fix what could be suspected to be a severe breach of police procedure and protocol. Does Crouch expect the Highway Mail to get hold of the SAPS management and tell them to sort things out?
I say again, I have severe reservations as to the personal agenda served by Crouch’s letter. Facts, it appears, are not a priority. But defaming the reputation of a fine policeman, father and husband by insinuating that my friend Norman was a negligent or incompetent policeman, slices my guts.
Disturbed Police Officer
Westville
