Police in Roodepoort took the bull by the horns over the festive season, tackling one of the area’s top crime contributors head-on.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Sonja Engelbrecht, the illegal consumption of alcohol in public spaces remains a thorn in the side not only of police but also for residents in many neighbourhoods.

“There are several liquor outlets throughout Roodepoort that have become notorious for people purchasing alcohol and consuming it in adjacent parks, parking lots, or on the pavement outside the premises,” she says.

“This results in public drunkenness, which often results in fights. It renders parks and open areas unsafe for use by residents, and is often associated with a rise in petty crime and domestic violence.”

Police, supported by local security companies, community policing forum patrollers, and ward councillors, descended on many problem spaces over the festive season, sending a clear message to liquor outlets and their customers that public drinking will not be tolerated.

“Consuming alcohol in public spaces is illegal,” says Engelbrecht.

“Liquor outlets maintain that they do not have control over where their customers consume the products bought from them, but we are seeing more and more pushback from communities who are fed up with the negative effects of such activities in their neighbourhoods.

“We decided to take our warnings to the doorsteps of these establishments and embarked on an operation to educate local communities about illegal alcohol consumption in public.”

Police officers, security officers and CPF members visited many problem sites over the festive season, each time parking the police’s mobile customer service centre in proximity to the business in question.

“We have undertaken to conduct regular patrols of this nature to stop this illegal practice,” says Engelbrecht.