OPINION: Report all crimes urges CPF

To help curb crime in your area, awareness needs to be created in the community. To do this, the Port Shepstone Executive Community Policing Forum (CPF) provides pertinent tips, therefore bridging the gap between the police, CPF and the community.

Four ways a crime is investigated:
1. The police officer is a primary recorder (incident reports fall into this category). Someone calls to report a crime, and he/she writes down what happened. Examples include theft, assault or sexual attack.
2. This is more complex. Now the officer is also an investigator. After a break-in, for example, he/she might look for the point of entry, take fingerprints, and question neighbours about what they saw or heard. In this type of report, the officer has to record what he/she did and found. The officer also has to demonstrate procedures were followed effectively. The key factors here are that the crime wasn’t solved nor an arrest made.
3. The officer becomes a participant. He/she might intervene in a domestic dispute, settle a fight in a bar, chase a person suspected of robbing a convenience store. The officer has to report not only what others did, but what he/she did. Often after an arrest; other possibilities are calling for backup or medical assistance. He/she might also ask protective services to get involved.
The complication here is the back story—what happened before the officer arrived—that has to be coordinated with his/her story. Another challenge is demonstrating that the officer followed procedures and guidelines.
4. The officer sets the story in motion. There’s no back story. He/she sees a crime in progress and intervenes. For example, he/she might see an erratic driver and make a traffic stop. Since the officer sets the investigation in motion, he/she has to be particularly careful to establish probable cause for getting involved.
These four types of reports all share some common characteristics, but they also have special requirements.
Residents are encouraged to report all cases. A case that is reported is included in the statistics at the police station. Priority is given to areas with the most reporting of crimes as these areas become hotspots. If you do not report an incident, patrols by Saps will not be carried out. The CPF and their patrollers are on duty every night to help keep the community safe. The CPF is the ‘eyes and ears’ for the Saps. Various topics will be discussed in the coming weeks including bylaws on illegal taverns and selling of drugs
Send in your questions, queries and suggestions to: pscpfexecutive@gmail.com

FATHIMA MOOSA
Port Shepstone Executive CPF Secretary.

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