After 44 years of loyal service, Ekurhuleni Metro Police deputy chief Johan Friedlander (65) from Kempton Park retired at the end of February.
Friedlander served in disaster management, security and traffic divisions in Johannesburg from 1975 until 1997.
He was the youngest deputy chief at Johannesburg Traffic Department.
In September 1977, he moved closer to home by joining the erstwhile Boksburg Council as a deputy director in law enforcement, overseeing both the traffic and licensing departments.
With the advent of the metropolitan council in 2000, when local authorities on the then East Rand amalgamated, he became director operations in the EMPD Northern and Eastern operational regions, with intermittent acting responsibilities as deputy chief of police between 2003 and 2007.
In 2007, he was awarded a deputy chief of police security and loss control post backdated to 2003, making him the longest-serving deputy chief of police at the EMPD on his retirement.
Very much a family man with his wife Valerie and blessed with two daughters, Yolande and Chantelle, and four grandchildren, Friedlander also carved a niche for himself academically by obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in Police Science in 1989 at the University of South Africa and being conferred with a BTech degree cum laude in 2004 at the Tshwane University of Technology.
Further achievements included an organisational studies diploma from Pretoria Tech in 1985, as well as an advanced course in labour law which he obtained in 2006 at the University of Stellenbosch.
Deservedly on his departure, Friedlander was given two farewells, first by his division personnel, then an official one by the chief of police, Isaac Jabulani Mapiyeye, and his EMPD senior management team.
