Police in hot water after sleeping on duty
Ward 70 Councillor Marika Kruger-Miller said crime in parts of Centurion has increased after images of police officers sleeping while on duty circulated on social media this week.
Centurion residents were up in arms this week over evidence of police officers sleeping in their car while on duty in Eldoraigne.
Pictures captured and posted on Facebook by Amoré Sameera Jooste show two officers in deep sleep in a Wierdabrug police van.
The men parked their vehicle outside a Pick n Pay Express shop at the BP petrol station near Eldoglen around 04:00 on Sunday morning, Jooste said.
Ward 70 Councillor Marika Kruger-Miller said it was unfortunate that police were not alert when on duty and not doing their work as expected.
She said crime in Wierda Park and Eldoraigne had increased in recent months.
“House robberies and burglaries are on the rise and now we see police officers sleeping. They should be active and patrolling the area,” she said.
Police visibility could decrease crime as their presence could scare off criminals, she said.
“I feel action should be taken against these officers as they were sleeping and not doing their jobs. If they were patrolling as they should, criminals would move away in the area and crime will significantly decrease,” said Kruger-Miller.
A police officer, who wished to remain anonymous, told Rekord some officers often took naps while working night shift.
“When I used to work night shifts, there were times when we would take a nap during our shift. Even though we rested during the day, sometimes we couldn’t help but get tired and sleepy when the night comes,” he said.
“We would sometimes park our car away from the public for a quick nap.”
Provincial police spokesperson Lt-Col Lungelo Dlamini said a disciplinary inquiry was underway.
“Police are aware of the clip of police officers sleeping in the car. The station commander is busy interviewing witnesses in order to finalise the inquiry,” he said.
Dlamini said sleeping on duty amounted to misconduct.
According to reports, the two officers had left their police van idling outside the petrol station for about 20 minutes.
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