Police, public engage at Wierdabrug station
More than one community member raised the issue of inadequate resources at the station.
Residents have been urged to insist police at the Wierdabrug station open cases when requested to do so – no matter how small the crime or the likelihood of perpetrators will be caught.
This was according to a statement released by the DA on Monday, which said the station was among the 40 in Gauteng “red-flagged for provincial intervention”.
Allegations of collusion, police corruption and dockets going missing were among the issues highlighted during recent engagements between police and the public at police stations across Gauteng including Wierdabrug.
Police said a meeting held at the station on Sunday, was to allow police management to engage with the community towards improving service delivery and the performance of the station.
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“Provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela has since his deployment to Gauteng embarked on stakeholder and community engagements that take place on Saturdays and Sundays,” said police spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters.
Peters said Mawela had chosen to visit the station because it was among the 40 stations that contributed the most volumes of crimes, as per the 2017/18 crime stats.
“More than one community member raised the issue of inadequate resources at the station,” Peters said.
“It was in response to this matter that police encouraged victims of crime to report all crimes.”
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Peters said most concerning for police in the engagements so far has been allegations of dockets going missing, police colluding with suspects and complainants not getting feedback about reported cases.
However, DA constituency leader Cilliers Brink and Gauteng DA community safety portfolio committee member Michael Shackleton said community members complained they were often discouraged by police officers from reporting certain crimes entirely.
“This is a major concern for the DA,” they said.
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The DA felt if residents were discouraged from reporting certain crimes, not only will poor-performing stations commanders be protected from scrutiny, struggling police stations might also be deprived of much-needed resources.
In June of this year, 39 undocumented immigrants escaped from a police vehicle at the Wierdabrug police station.
Peters said the internal investigation into the matter continued.
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