Local police hero honoured with national award

NELSPRUIT – A local police officer was awarded as the Best Individual at the national Tracker-SAPS Awards on Friday. WO Jacq Nel from the Point of Entry Tracing Team in Lebombo received the honour at the national ceremony in Gauteng.

The Sekunda Flying Squad was nominated as the Best Unit but ultimately the Bloemfontein Air Wing scooped the top honours in the category.

The awards was introduced in 1996 to honour the law enforcement officers and units whose efforts in the use of Tracker’s technology have made a significant impact on the recovery of stolen and hijacked vehicles, thus contributing to the fight against crime in South Africa. With more than 1 400 tracking computers fitted to police vehicles, Mr Nathi Mthethwa, minister of police, said that the partnership has achieved 65 000 recoveries, which has led them to more than 12 000 arrests.

Amid a packed house of finalists from 40 units, 180 high-ranking police officials, insurance partners, Crime Line and other safety and security stakeholders, Mthethwa paid tribute to the leaders in the fight against crime. “When Tracker and the SAPS became partners in 1996, rampant vehicle crime levels in South Africa were making headlines around the world,” he said. “While vehicle crime remains a serious concern for all South Africans, the statistics have come down significantly – thanks, in no small part, to the SAPS-Tracker partnership.”

Tracker’s executive operations director, Mr Ron Knott-Craig, handed out awards, sharing further key statistics on the strength of the partnership. “In 1995, our new government called on the public and private sector to link arms and work to build our country. What was required was collaboration,” he said.

“One result of this can be best illustrated by one province achieving a recovery rate of 100% last year, remarkable by anyone’s standards. The same province has achieved a 100% recovery rate for 10 out of the past 16 years. Seven provinces have achieved over 85%, and perhaps, most importantly, four provinces arrest 1 suspect for every 1.5 to 2 vehicles recovered.”

Award criteria was based onoutstanding contribution in the area of vehicle crime investigation, number of recoveries, and arrests, as well as outstanding efforts in coordinating recovery actions, with overall winners announced as:

Best Individual:
· Nel  for crime-fighting on the border into neighbouring countries. He has been responsible for more than 50 vehicle recoveries.

Best Unit:
· Bloemfontein Air Wing for their work with missing persons cases, recovering stolen and hijacked vehicles and cross-border patrols.

Winners received a certificate, personalised trophy, a cheque payable to the charity organisation nominated by the recipient to the value of R10 000, and an invitation to attend the International Association of Auto Theft Investigators Annual Training Seminar, in Fort Worth Texas, United States.

It was revealed that Tracker has also committed R6 million to the Tracker/SAPS Bursary Scheme, which provides tertiary education bursaries to the children of police officers who have been killed in the line of duty, benefitting students from across the country. Mthethwa concluded by asking those leading the fight against crime to share their expertise.

“When you leave here today, I urge you to take your learning and experiences and share them with your colleagues,” he said. “A candle loses nothing by lighting another, and together the darkness is overcome and the brighter the light will burn for all South Africans.”