Villieria police on mission to strengthen ties with community
Following Covid-19-enforced regulations, local police held a meeting to re-establish a strong working relationship with residents.
Villieria police are on a mission to rebuild their relationship with residents in order to succeed in the fight against crime.
“After Covid-19 lockdown, we have a responsibility to ensure that our community is safe,” said Villieria station commander Colonel Silas Thoka.
Thoka called interested residents to attend a community meeting where crime-curbing strategies would be discussed and executed.
“I invite every resident to attend,” he said about the meeting scheduled to take place at the NG church, Queenswood.
“The meeting will discuss issues including CPF elections, current crime trends, solutions and safety precautions.”
Villieria police spokesperson Captain Coba Brits said the good relationship that existed between police and the community broke down during level 5 to 2 of the Covid-19-enforced lockdown.
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“It was very difficult to have a good relationship with the community and get them involved in crime prevention campaigns,” Brits said.
“Now that we are on level 1, we really need to get them onboard again.” She said the upcoming meeting would serve as the preparation for new CPF elections.
“We need community members to make use of this time to become part of the CPF structure.
“Residents should attend the meeting in their numbers, raise issues of concern to them and also be prepared to work together with the police to provide possible solutions,” she said, adding that the police could only effectively prevent, limit and fight against crime in the area when working with residents.
“We need the residents to be our eyes and ears,” Brits said.
She said the area had recently experienced crime involving business robberies, hijackings and theft.
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The police assured residents that attending the meeting would be safe as measures related to the Covid-19 precautions would be adhered to.
The date of the CPF meeting has yet to be finalised.
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