Coffee with a Cop campaigns bring community together
Coffee with A Cop is a project that provides a unique opportunity for community and police members to interact in an informal and neutral space.
Emergency services, community safety groups, the police and CPF were among some of the groups engaging with residents at Cosmo Shopping Centre on Friday March 18. Coffee with A Cop was an opportunity to interact and reach out to the community in Cosmo City.
Spokesperson for Honeydew Police, Warrant Officer Dave Stanton said Coffee with A Cop is a project that provides a unique opportunity for community and police members to come together in an informal, neutral space to discuss community issues, build relationships, ask questions, and learn more about how different stakeholders work in the province.
“The programme aims to advocate the practice of community policing through improved relationships and communication between police officers and community members through a cup of coffee. The police in Honeydew is continuing to roll out these campaigns throughout all our malls and shopping centres so as to get closer to our communities and raise awareness on crime.”
One of the residents, Nkululeko Deyi said he was interested in joining the police force, “This caught my attention because I want to be in the police one day. I am not sure if I want to be in tactical, or work in the office, so I am here to get more information.”
One of the organisations with representatives present was the Gender-Based Violence Brigade, and Julai Moima explained the work they do. “We rotate and raise awareness around all these areas including Cosmo City, Diepsloot and Lion Park. We work to ensure that the community recognises us and the work we do. We do door-to-door campaigns and all of these work towards creating access and making it easier for people to find us and get assistance.”
Christopher Montgomery from Emergency Control SA said they are an NPO that works with volunteers, and they assist communities with different emergencies. Nomandla Ndwandwe from the Group Forensic and Investigation Service Department in the City of Joburg said they do awareness campaigns and work to empower citizens with information on how to report corruption and fraud. “We strive to prevent, detect, investigate and ensure resolution of crimes committed against the City of Johannesburg. This also include theft of City assets, vandalism, maladministration, illegal connections and hijacked properties.”
