Kuils River Community Police Forum (CPF), in conjunction with Kuils River police, Sector1 Neighbourhood Watch and De Kuilen Neighbourhood Watch (NHW), will be hosting a Safety and Security Imbizo for Sector 1 on Thursday 18 August at 19:00 at the Western Cape Sport School, Nooiensfontein Road.
Sector 1 includes Highbury, Highbury Park, Stellendale, Danarand, De Kuilen, Kuils River CBD and Kuils River Industria.
Chair of Kuils River Sector1 NHW Aldrich Burmeister says all residents, local organisations, schools, sport clubs and businesses within Sector 1 are invited to attend what promises to be a very informative event.
“This imbizo is to inform the community about how community policing structures work and how they can be part of the solution to the challenges that plague the sector. Time will be allocated to the public for an open question and answer session, allowing the community to get all their safety related questions answered,” Burmeister says.
What is a CPF?
The Community Police Forum or CPF is a local community safety and security oversight body that works closely with their local police and other safety and security structures in their area.
CPF’s were established in terms of section 19(1) of the South African Police Service act.
The Uniform Constitution for Community Police Forums in the Western Cape was adopted in 2010.
“This constitution allows safety structures and community based organisations, such as neighbourhood watches, civic organisations, businesses, schools, churches, and so on, to participate in consulting with their local police station on all safety issues affecting their neighbourhood.
Community members are thus allowed to positively impact local policing in their area through the direct link the CPF has with the local police,” Burmeister says.
A CPF and its subforums consist of a group of elected community volunteers and local police representatives who meet monthly to discuss safety issues impacting their communities.
The CPF aims to accomplish objectives as laid out in Section 18 of the Police Act.
This means it has to establish and maintain a partnership between the community and the local police.
They promote communications and cooperation and very importantly promote joint problem identification and problem solving.
The CPF is tasked with assisting the police with improving police services to the community, and promoting transparency and accountability of the local police to the community they serve.
When sector policing was introduced in the Western Cape, Kuils River was split into four sectors to better manage crime in the area. Kuils River police, subsequently, allocated a sector commander to each sector.
“Each sector has its own subforum which is the on-the-ground localised link between community organisations, safety structures, the CPF, and the police,” Burmeister says.
“The subforum consists of elected volunteers working closely with the local sector commander, other safety and security structures as well as various civic organisations within their sectors.
Their focus is on promoting accountability and co-operation of the local police, while monitoring the effectiveness and efficiency of the police serving the sector and the consequence it has on community safety.
As a result the community can participate and have a direct impact on safety issues in the area and can do so by working through their community based organisations, who can attend monthly Community Policing Subforum meetings,” he says.
Community based organisations can join their local Community Policing Subforum. This membership allows these organisations to participate in and have an impact on safety issues in their sector, and also be eligible for office during the elections of the CPF.
The CPF and Subforum serve a five-year term. The current Kuils River CPF committee are: Faizel Martin (chair), Neville Botha (vice-chair), Ralph Opperman (treasurer), Thelo Wakefield (public relations officer), Leanne Stellenberg (projects coordinator) and Jeanne de Villiers (NHW coordinator).
- Contact the CPF at exco@kuilsrivercpf.co.za and Kuils River Police Sector 1 manager, Sgt Pieter du Toit on 082 522 1929.
