Hercules police host ‘coffee with a cop’ initiative
This initiative allows them to speak freely to the police officers about anything.
Hercules police and the local CPF hosted a “coffee with a cop” event at the Hercules police station on Wednesday.
Hercules police spokesperson Captain Bonginkosi Msimango said the purpose of the event was to promote the relationship between the police and community members.
“We want the community to feel free with the police so that if there’s something, then they can be free and contact the police. This initiative allows them to speak freely to the police officers about anything.
“There are some trust issues between the police and the community, so having coffee with a police officer will bring confidence to the community.
“We started this initiative in Mountain View earlier this year but due to the Covid regulations, we have had to limit the number of people. This is the second event that we held. We are now targeting people from sector 3 which is Pretoria Gardens and people who are coming to the police station.”
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Msimango said since the beginning of the initiative, they saw an increase in the number of tip-offs from the community.
“Recently there was a car that drove around the plots in sector 4, the community informed an officer and they found the guy with an unlicenced firearm which was filed off.
“Also recently the community informed us about the robbery in progress at Shoprite. Instead of blaming each other, we are now working together, the relationship is getting better.”
Secretary of Hercules CPF Johan Cloete said they had a fun day at the police station with the officers and the public who visited the police station.
“We also invited people who were just passing by. We gave them a coffee with a cupcake and had fun.
“There were positive reactions from the community and we are going to be doing it on a monthly basis.”
Cloete said the initiative will help both police and the CPF get more information about things that are happening in the community.
“The big aim is to show the public we are here and they should come speak to us if there’s trouble or if they have a problem.”
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