The state of Boschkop police station
“In a normal running police station, there must be 10 personnel per shift. So, I don’t think an officer short is a crisis,” he said.
While residents are reportedly unhappy with the state of the Boschkop police station, police have said the station is operating at optimal capacity.
Station spokesperson Constable Yeroboam Mbatsane said the station had enough officers to function.
“On the issue of manpower, every shift has nine members. We have four shifts.
“In a normal running police station, there must be 10 personnel per shift. So, I don’t think an officer short is a crisis,” he said.
“When you check the archives we arrest criminals and some are being sentenced.
“If the police station was not functional, then this wouldn’t be the case,” he said.
Mbatsane shared further on some of the upgrades to ensure functionality.
“Because our area is growing the station has trucks stationed at the Skierlik informal settlement.
“We did this because residents were complaining about the distance that they need to travel to the police station,” he said
On the state of the holding cells, Mbatsane said the cells are being checked to see if they are in good condition to hold criminals.
“Our cells were declared inhabitable. As a result, they are closed. We are not using them.
“If a person is arrested in Boschkop, we take them to the nearest police station which is Garsfontein. We have not experienced a problem with that arrangement,” he said.
According to Mbatsane, the station was open to receiving complaints.
“We have open policing channels. We have partnered with private security companies that are around our area.
“If residents are not satisfied with our work, there are channels that they can use to report it. There are sector managers and the CPF. In our last meeting, nothing was brought up about inefficiencies.”
Boschkop CPF chairman Ross Welsh said that the CPF and its structures together with the Lakes Security Forum work very closely with the Boschkop police station in assisting them with crime-fighting and visible policing.
“We are assisting the police with minor repairs to police vehicles so that the cars do not need to go into the SAPS garage where it takes incredibly long for them to get repaired and released back to the station,” he said.
“We have a good working relationship with the Boschkop police station.
“They are always willing to help the CPF and the Lakes Forum structures in all our operations. When an emergency occurs they are very quick to assist.”
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