JMPD officers awarded for working beyond their line of duty

Although a Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) officers’ mandated functions include traffic policing, policing of municipal by-laws and regulations, and the prevention of crime, JMPD officers went beyond the call of duty in the Roodepoort community.

On Friday, March 11 JMPD held a small award ceremony at the Region C office to recognise four of their officers for their exceptional dedication and hard work.

“We want to give recognition to the four JMPD officers for working beyond their line of duty and for continuing to make a difference in our community,” said JMPD spokesperson Xolani Fihla.

On January 14 at 06:50 JMPD officers Zingisa Mgadi and Dikeledi Sejamoholo came across a woman carrying a naked baby and immediately made a U-turn to find out what was going on as it was cold and raining.

The woman told the officers that she was left with two kids, a four-month-old baby boy, and a two-year-old girl the previous day by their mother who told her that she was going to buy airtime, but never returned.

The woman told the officer that she had to go to work and didn’t know where to leave the kids.

The officer took the kids to Child Welfare South Africa Roodepoort where they received a warm welcome from social worker Charlotte Mthete.

On February 14 while on duty doing traffic control on Nick Toomey Boulevard and Progress Road, JMPD officers Melatoe and Moropabe received a complaint from a community member about a teenage boy who was on top of a water tank next to Hoërskool Die Adelaar. They said the young man didn’t look well.

The officers rushed to the scene and found him in his school uniform without a shirt on. According to Officer Moropabe the boy didn’t look and sound sane as he was running on top of the tank swearing at everyone who was begging him to come down.

Two adult males who introduced themselves as assistants at the school explained to the officers that the boy was troublesome and had been expelled from the school, but occasionally came back to cause problems.

The two officers told the Northsider that the boy was very violent and didn’t want to listen to anyone, but they managed to calm him down and promised him that they would listen and help him.

After negotiating with him, he eventually climbed down from the tank. The officers managed to calm him down and took him to the school to find out what had happened.

“At the school we found out that he had indeed been expelled and that his mother was also working there at the school’s feeding scheme.

“He became violent again and we asked the mother if we could take him to our office and talk to him.

“We went to our JMPD Region C offices with him and our superiors tried to calm him down but by that time he was worse.

“He looked and sounded intoxicated and everything he was saying didn’t make sense. We took him to Roodepoort Police Station because we were scared he was going to cause danger to others and himself,” said Officer Melatoe.

The officers could not be assisted at the police station so they called their Director who called the social workers at the Roodepoort Civic Centre and instructed the officers to take the boy there.

The social workers noted the case and referred the officers to the Department of Social Development where the mother and son were counselled and referred to a Senior Prosecutor who assisted with a letter of consent so that he could be sent to a rehabilitation centre.

The teenager was then taken to court and an arrangement was made for his mother to go to the Social Development Department for placing.