Pretoria West station commander Colonel Michelle Toohey has said farewell to residents and police officials at the station after she took a station commander position at the Soshanguve police station.
Toohey described her six years’ tenure at the station as “very difficult”.
“Pretoria West is a very difficult station to run because it is a very difficult area to police,” she said.
“Residents want things to be done their way and do not want to see things from the police’s perspective and this is where we had our differences at times. Other than these challenges, it is a very good community and I also managed, thanks to the team I had in place.”
Toohey said despite the many challenges she faced in the area, she was very happy with the results she achieved.
“There will always be crime, but we saw a big drop in crime since I started here. We were in the top 30 crime areas nationwide for some crimes when I started here. Today we are no longer featuring in the top 30 for any crimes.
“I am ecstatic about this because this is one of my biggest achievements. I was happy to have contributed to less crime in Pretoria West. Although I did not reach my peak because I also wanted to tackle problems related to pawn shops, panel beaters and vehicle-related crimes.”
She said some of the biggest problems the station faced were hijackings and property-related crimes.
“Hijackings, housebreakings and theft out of motor vehicles are problematic in the area.”
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Toohey encouraged community members to work closely with the CPF in the area and the sector crimes forum.
Pretoria West police spokesperson Constable Sibongile Vuma said she was sad to see Toohey depart, but was happy about her promotion.
“She welcomed me when I arrived in 2018,” said Vuma.
“She has been like a mother to me and she deserves her promotion. She is a very strict commander who wants nothing but work to be done. We would like to wish her well on her new journey.”
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