THE Brighton Beach Police Station has partnered with local interfaith organisations to improve police-community relations on The Bluff.

The primary goal of this collaboration is to integrate interfaith organisations into police operations, creating a more unified approach to addressing social issues in the community.

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Sergeant Siduduzo Makhaye of the Brighton Beach Police Station explained that there has been a disconnect between church leaders and the police at the grassroots level, making it necessary to establish a police-community-neutral unit. This unit will focus on tackling social problems arising from both church and community activities.

The initiative will be officially launched at the Brighton Beach Police Station’s boardroom on April 24 at 18:00. The event had originally been scheduled for March 20 but was postponed to accommodate various religious observances.

Makhaye explained that many local churches, as well as Hindu and Muslim communities, were observing significant religious events during that period. Hindus were fasting for the Kavady festival, Muslims for the month of Ramadan, and Christians for Lent.

“We respect and acknowledge all interfaith organisations and did not want to interfere with their important religious events,” said Makhaye.

He said the police hope to strengthen their relationship with the church members who may be reluctant to report incidents to the authorities, preferring instead to speak with their spiritual leaders. The spiritual crime prevention unit will focus on addressing issues within both the religious and broader community, fostering co-operation and understanding between the police and interfaith groups.

It is a community-based approach that was established by the National Commissioner in 2019 to address the different crimes that are prevalent in communities. It also aims at assisting communities in bringing people and resources together to prevent and control crime.

The spiritual crime prevention strategy is outlined according to the following pillars:
• Strengthening of family structures.
• Establishment of crime prevention support desks in faith-based organisations.
• Youth development.
• Moral regeneration.
• Prison ministry and community offender re-integration.

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