Police reach out to local communities

The South African Police Service (SAPS) marked National Police Day on Monday 27 January by reaching out to and improving relationships with communities.

Every year 27 January is being set aside as National Police Day to recognise the police’s efforts to serve and protect the nation and to honour those who died in the line of duty.

Led by Police Deputy Minister Maggie Sotyu and National Police Commissioner General Riah Phiyega, police members visited five schools across the country.

This was to give effect to the Memorandum of Understanding, co-signed by the Departments of Police and Education in 2011, with a view to strengthening the Safe Schools Programme.

The programme seeks to ensure that all schools in the country are linked to all 1 134 police stations and that school governing bodies and the SAPS work closely to ensure that schools are safe and secure havens of learning.

Sotyu says launching the community outreach plan and rolling out the school outreach project on National Police Day is a means for them to work together with communities to create a safe environment, especially for children.

Phiyega says the more structured, centralised and focused approach “will enable all members of the SAPS to understand and have the relevant guidance to implement efficient community outreach programmes all over the country in a uniform and structured way”.

SAPS spokesperson Lieutenant General Solomon Makgale says the rationale is to transform National Police Day into a community outreach project, which is intended to have a direct impact on a community orientated style of policing.

“This will be achieved through crime awareness projects, community education programmes and by addressing the causes of crime through other related interventions.”

Makgale says these interactions were aimed at improving the functionality of community police forum structures, as well as the involvement of communities in crime prevention initiatives, improving the image and confidence of the SAPS among communities while reducing crime in the country.

Government’s vision on community policing, as captured in the National Development Plan (NDP) and the National Crime Prevention Strategy, places an obligation on SAPS to focus on crime prevention and detection, as well as working in partnership with communities.