Long-absent Brooklyn CPF finally ready for action

The Brooklyn community has finally elected Community Police Forum (CPF) executives to boost police work and support integrated crime prevention and crime-combatting operations.

The elections come after Brooklyn has been without a CPF for about 10 years.

Newly elected Brooklyn CPF chairperson, a University of Pretoria student Gabedi Mogatwe (25), said the four sectors of Brooklyn have been without the CPF for a very long time.

He said the forum had lost touch with the community and the community itself forgot that the CPF existed.

“So our priority is to reintroduce the forum back to the community, regain that trust and convince them through our work to rally behind us,” he said.

Mogatwe said he would propose a meeting with community members from all four sectors and assure them the CPF is back and will set up committees that will be engaging with community members daily.

“Every sector has to have a WhatsApp group that involves their constituency, where they will interact fully and get live responses to their grievances.”

He said the CPF Exco will also form part of all community meetings that will be hosted in every sector so that the community gets the opportunity to meet their CPF and gain their confidence and trust in that process.

“As the CPF works closely with the community, it covers areas like giving police officers an idea of crime hotspots and interacting with community members to hear how we can assist in making the society better with regards to safety. We are the watchdog of both SAPS and the community.”

Mogatwe said the new CPF will work hand in hand with the community and police to have an idea of which areas need police reinforcement or community patrollers to assist SAPS in combating crime.

“We encourage community members to report any criminal activities that they may suspect or witness. But we will give a full plan of action after our first meeting because, as things stand, we are still in the process of sorting out admin and settling in.”

He said the CPF needs the full support of the community, as well as volunteers who will patrol with police and other stakeholders.

He said it also plans on doing some clean-up campaigns around places where there are dumping sites because the CPF is not limited to safety only but covers cleanliness as well.

“Every member of the exco will have to present the work that they have engaged in, in assisting the CPF to combat crime, show commitment and agility in their work. We have the constitution of the CPF to guide us on our duties and responsibilities.”

Mogatwe acknowledged that they will struggle first before things get better.

“Since we are taking over from a CPF that wasn’t functional, we are going to face challenges of gaining community trust, they will feel like we are only here for these first few months and [will] then vanish again.”

He said getting the support of other stakeholders in the community will also be an issue because there’s no established relationship between them. “We are starting afresh, which means it’s not going to be an easy start.”

Mogatwe said there’s a need for visibility in the student-populated areas such as Hillcrest and Hatfield.

“More patrollers are needed, especially during month-end days, whereby it becomes busy and students are all over trying to run errands where they get targeted by criminals.

“As we are approaching exam season, the increased presence of foot security will also come in handy.”

Mogatwe said the lack of streetlights in the student-populated areas is a concern.

“As a student myself at the University of Pretoria, I know the crime hotspots and the huge lack of streetlights around Hatfield and Hillcrest. This makes students targets of criminals, so we will advocate and push the municipality to intervene and fix this ghost town and light it up.”

Mogatwe added that the CPF wants to integrate new crime-combating approaches such as increasing patrol visibility, acting on intelligence, and fostering a co-operative environment where crime is discouraged.

“We will work closely with security companies, the police and TMPD, drawing from the Alpha Security Forum’s principles to prioritise the safety of the community.”

He added that their main priorities are enhancing community safety through collaboration with residents, police, TMPD, and security stakeholders.

The new members are:

– Chairperson: Gabedi Mogatwe

– Vice Chairman: Mike Michaelides

– Deputy Secretary: Rudy Brown

– Treasurer: Louis Erasmus
-PRO: Emile Sievers
-Youth Desk: Lehlohonolo Ramonyane

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