Marchers demand that police give BMW patrollers recognition

BOIPATONG.- A handful of disgruntled Winnies Park community members recently marched to the Boipatong Police Station to demand recognition and awareness of the BMW patrollers.This followed a series of stories that were published by Sedibeng Ster about a group of patrollers that has apparently become a law unto themselves in Boipatong.
There have been several cases opened after a double murder and multiple assaults.
The march consisted of a few women who demanded Boipatong Police to recognise the patrollers, and the fact that the patrollers have apparently been protecting the community against crime and rapes in the area.
Speaking to Sedibeng Ster, Velemina Thabane said that the community pay a certain amount to the BMW patrollers, and with the money, the patrolling group decided to buy themselves uniforms branded with a BMW logo. She said the name ‘BMW’ was as the results of this uniform.
“These patrollers play an important role in our community and crime is not the same as it was in the past. Women used to be raped and people assaulted by criminals. We would have evidence of these crimes and we opened the cases, but those suspects were back in the street. We ask for these patrollers to be fully recognized so that they can work hand in hand with the police,” said Thabane. The marchers handed over the memorandum to Captain Rashaad Makhene, who promised to hand it over to the relevant authorities, saying that they will get back to them within fourteen days. However, he had words of advice to the small group of women. “As much as I receive this memorandum, the right procedure must be followed in future. Those patrollers must be vetted like our Community Police Forum (CPF) members. We are here to serve the community and our doors are always open for advice to those who need our help,” said Makhene.
Police have in the past warned the members of the community to not take the law into their own hands.