Previously visitors to the police station were able to park their cars in the main car park, along with the police vehicles. Often this car park got too congested and visitors had to park their vehicles on the road leading to the police station, Oracle Close. This obstructed the road for police vehicles and other businesses on the cul-de-sac.
Midrand Police Station commander Colonel Steven Moodley said the decision was taken in the best interest of the police. He said the road was often jammed with vehicles. The Community Policing Forum and the Johannesburg Roads Agency decided to resolve the parking problem by allocating space for visitors to park in a separate area from the police vehicles, and in a way that did not obstruct the road. This area is on the corner of Oracle Close and Bekker Road.
While resident Wendy Knezovich complained that the bottom of her car scraped the ground as she tried to get into and out of the new parking area, Moodley said that the city council had graded the area and levelled it with stones.
The roads agency had drawn red lines on the road leading to the police station to warn the public not to park there.
Marian Symons raised concern that residents, who were already traumatised by crime, then had to walk down the road to the police station, or were “bullied” by security guards, telling them not to park on the road outside the police station. Moodley said special exceptions would be made to grant members of the community access to the main parking area. This was especially true for elderly or disabled residents.
Moodley appealed to the community to work with the police to help alleviate the problem and to make the police station more accessible for police cars at all times.
