THEIR dedication to fighting crime and attention to detail netted to local police stations top honours at the recent SAPS Eastern Cape Provincial Service Excellence Awards in East London.
The St Francis Bay Police Station secured a prestigious second place for the Best Small Police Station of the Year across South Africa (managed by commanders up to the rank of a captain, while the Patensie Police Station took the second runner-up position in the same category.
Both stations form part of the Humansdorp Cluster, which predominantly consists of small to medium stations. This includes Thornhill, Storms River and Kareedouw in the small category; while Humansdorp, Jeffreys Bay, Hankey and Joubertina are in the medium category.
According to police spokesperson Sergeant Majola Nkohli, the two winning stations have a common approach when it comes to crime combating strategies.
“One of their strategies is a good rapport with their stakeholders, including community policing forums,” said Nkohli. “For the period of assessment, the two police stations managed to drastically reduce their contact and property crimes, as well as to increase their arrests on police generated crimes.”
Also awarded for his hard work is St Francis Property Owners Association (SFPO) committee member and St Francis Bay Sector Police Forum Chairman, David Truter.
Humansdorp Cluster Commander, Brigadier John Lebok, said, “The two police stations have gone above and beyond their call of duty.
“They have consistently met the strategic objectives of the organisation, despite the various sacrifices they had to make along the way; they were duly rewarded.”
According to Lebok, the Humansdorp Cluster has a good relationship with various businesses in the region.
“Our partnerships with private security companies and neighbourhood watch organisations are making this cluster one of the safest in the province, irrespective of the season of the year.”
