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Compiled by the Government Communication and Information System Date: 06 May 2012 Title: Building police stations in rural areas, townships prioritised -------------------- Pretoria - Priority has been placed on building police stations in rural areas and townships and ensuring they are correctly capacitated with improved systems and operations, says Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa. "It is unacceptable for society to travel distances to report criminals, it is equally unacceptable that in cases where they do reach these police stations, they then discover that there resources are pathetic. To have police stations without proper sanitation and electricity is unacceptable and compromises our momentum," said the minister. He was speaking on Sunday at the National Association of Student Development (NASDEV) Practitioners Bi-Annual Conference in Boksburg. Mthethwa warned that once police stations were built, they must not become mere structures and just government property as they belonged to the communities. "We need to have active Community Policing Forums (CPFs). CPFs are elected forums at station level that represent the community in their engagement with the SAPS, a key aspect of the CPF system is that the police service and the CPF have different roles in this partnership, but work towards the same objective," he said. As opposed to reservists who volunteer to do police work under the command and control of the SAPS, Mthethwa emphasised that CPF members work with SAPS and for their community, and not for SAPS. "As police enter into partnership with diverse partners, the main objective is to improve the local safety, this can be achieved through taking proactive initiatives to address factors that cause or enable crime to take place, to improve communication mediums in addressing crime. "In addition such partnerships must promote co-operation by ensuring joint problem identification and joint problem solving." He added that the values and principles which underpin partnership policing are that all partners must provide mutual acknowledgement and respect for ideas, interests, issues and position of each partner and must commit to work together to identify and achieve common goals, thereby strive to reach consensus-based decisions. "We intend to enter into many partnerships with diverse partners, and that is why structures such as NASDEV are crucial, as a youth-driven organization, you might outline your developmental agenda and not be consumed into being used as political platforms by some who want to serve narrow agendas, but be active participants in the advancement of democracy." - BuaNews |
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