A brief peak into a key processing office within Roodepoort Police Station

A police station is an interconnected web of nodes, passages, files and paperwork.

The means of armed self-defence, illegally distributed social lubricant, and the trading of less wanted items all fall under the jurisdiction of the same office at Roodepoort Police Station. On the station’s ground floor is a musty office crammed with files, computers, contraband and hard-working police officers, including FLASH Commander, Captain Thokwe Molete.

This office, which operates under a provincial mandate as an extension of the Provincial office, handles everything related to firearms, liquor and second-hand goods trading. Captain Molete has headed up this crucial hub of information for over 10 years through communication with community members, informers on the ground and CPF patrollers to identify hotspots. This office plays a integral role in basic on-the-ground crime-fighting efforts.

Keeping Captain Molete the busiest is the ‘F’ in FLASH. The office is the firearms registration office dealing with firearms applications, competency certificates, renewals as well as permits and collections. The captain is aware of the backlog in processing the amnesty returns, and ensures gun owners that they will get a call from the station as soon as their firearm is back from Pretoria where all amnesty returns are being processed and undergoing ballistic testing.

Liquor and second-hand goods are the other pieces in the office’s jurisdiction pie. While neither are illegal, the improper acquisition, processing and distribution is what Captain Molete and his team crack down on. In both cases, confiscated items are booked in to what is called an ‘SAP13’, where after a prosecutor seeks a disposal and should that be granted, is taken to be destroyed. Offenders, depending on the severity of the infraction, are fined or prosecuted.

Captain Molete urges all second-hand goods traders and liquor outlets to ensure that all their paperwork is up to date to prevent falling foul of the law. As for the firearm amnesty returns, he ensures that the various departments are working hard to get firearms back to the owners, saying, “We thank the members of the public for their patience”.