CRIME has been on the increase in Effingham and Avoca over the last few months, following the collapse of the Greenwood Park Community Policing Forum (CPF) Sub-Forum 2.

That’s according to Greenwood Park SAPS spokesperson, W/O Leon Audh, and Greenwood Park CPF forum chairman, Robin Candy.

Candy said the executive committee had ‘disbanded’ and no meetings have been held for that sector since December last year. “There has been a breakdown in communication between the police and community, which have led to an increase in general crime in the area,” he said.

He added that they hoped to re-establish the committee with an election early next year.

According to section 19(1) of the SAPS Act 68 of 1995, it is a legislative requirement to create a CPF within every sector. As Greenwood Park SAPS covers such a large area, the sector was divided into six sub-forums.

“The CPF facilitates a number of responsibilities, including establishing a line of communication between the public and the police, facilitating co-operation between the two entities, ensuring that the community’s needs – in terms of policing – are fulfilled, encouraging transparency of the service, monitoring the effectiveness and efficiency of the police and enhancing the quality of information available to the police resulting in the development of a proactive and problem-solving approach to crime and violence,” said Candy, who is also the chairman for Sub-Forum 5.

Audh said the police need the assistance from the community in order to form a united front against crime.

“We cannot do it alone. It is a huge sector with many main road access points that suspects can use to enter and exit,” he said.

Michael Stuart, the former chairman for Sub-Forum 2, confirmed that he had resigned from the post. “We are still involved via community-type organisations that focus on community upliftment and, by default, crime,” he said.

When asked to comment on the allegations that crime had increased since the collapse of the forum, Stuart said he believed that the two issues were unrelated. “There is a general increase in crime this time of the year,” he said.

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