Twenty Cambridge police detectives are to leave their offices in Spoornet’s Goodshed near Hemingways, and join their colleagues at Cambridge police station.
The pending move is a bid by police to improve service delivery.
The ground opposite the police station in Garcia Street was levelled in December, and mobile offices for the detectives have been erected.
“We are expecting to be moved to near the station before the end of the financial year. We are excited because for the past five years we have had to travel 6km back and forth to fetch dockets at the station,” said one detective, who declined to be named as he is not allowed to speak to the media.
The South African Police Service has been renting the offices opposite Hemingways mall for more than five years.
Chairman of the Mdantsane Cluster Community Policing Forum, Sowana Somgadi, said the new offices constituted a response to a public outcry over the slow pace of investigations. “There is going to be an improvement in the way detectives deal with cases, and they can now be held to account by the station commander, who is just across the road,” Somgadi said.
He said gone were the days when community members would open cases and be told to wait at home. “Now when they are done opening the case at the community services centre, they will immediately be introduced to the detective handling the case across the street.”
Somgadi said should residents feel not satisfied with an investigation, they could approach the commander of the detectives, who would be at the mobile offices.
Cambridge station officers had waited for long to have the detectives nearby, while major crimes were committed in the area. “The objective is to have a visible and well-equipped detective command centre that is servicing the people of this community, instead of sending them from pillar to post.”
The police station covers 28 suburbs and five informal settlements.
Every year the station records the highest number of home break-ins in the region, with 5293 cases opened in the past five years.
Late last year, Christo Theart, the chairman of the Nahoon Ratepayers’ Association, said residents had stopped relying on police for help in fighting crime.
“The break-ins in our area are unbelievably high.”
Detectives’ move to Cambridge station to bolster crime fight
The pending move is a bid by police to improve service delivery.
The ground opposite the police station in Garcia Street was levelled in December, and mobile offices for the detectives have been erected.
“We are expecting to be moved to near the station before the end of the financial year. We are excited because for the past five years we have had to travel 6km back and forth to fetch dockets at the station,” said one detective, who declined to be named as he is not allowed to speak to the media.
The South African Police Service has been renting the offices opposite Hemingways mall for more than five years.
Chairman of the Mdantsane Cluster Community Policing Forum, Sowana Somgadi, said the new offices constituted a response to a public outcry over the slow pace of investigations. “There is going to be an improvement in the way detectives deal with cases, and they can now be held to account by the station commander, who is just across the road,” Somgadi said.
He said gone were the days when community members would open cases and be told to wait at home. “Now when they are done opening the case at the community services centre, they will immediately be introduced to the detective handling the case across the street.”
Somgadi said should residents feel not satisfied with an investigation, they could approach the commander of the detectives, who would be at the mobile offices.
Cambridge station officers had waited for long to have the detectives nearby, while major crimes were committed in the area. “The objective is to have a visible and well-equipped detective command centre that is servicing the people of this community, instead of sending them from pillar to post.”
The police station covers 28 suburbs and five informal settlements.
Every year the station records the highest number of home break-ins in the region, with 5293 cases opened in the past five years.
Late last year, Christo Theart, the chairman of the Nahoon Ratepayers’ Association, said residents had stopped relying on police for help in fighting crime.
“The break-ins in our area are unbelievably high.”
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