The first four Community in Blue (CIB) members in Kuils River received their uniforms recently.
Sgt TP Hoffman, Sector 2 commander at Kuils River police, said the CIB members, who are volunteers from the community, will assist the police with special duties on occasion when needed.
“In terms of my sector (2) I will from time to time call them to assist with patrols in my hot-spot areas, such as the vicinity of Bet-el School, around month’s end when it comes to robberies.”
Hoffman said the volunteers could also assist the police during roadblocks. “The CIB members can distribute pamphlets to raise awareness when we are doing our big roadblocks during the festive season. While the officers are busy with vehicle checks the members can hand pamphlets out.”
He said unlike neighbourhood-watch patrollers, CIB volunteers never work on their own. “They work alongside police officers only when needed.”
Hoffman said the CIB members may be transported in police vehicles to where they are needed, but do not work from police vehicles.
“They are basically on foot, doing foot patrols.”
Hoffman said police operations are planned and volunteers will be notified in advance when their assistance is required.
Some of the first CIB volunteers in Kuils River were recruited through the neighbourhood watches, said Kuils River police spokesperson WO Liesel Beukes. Kuils River police are awaiting more uniforms to be issued to CIB volunteers. Beukes said more volunteers are still in the process of being recruited from the community.
She said CIB volunteers are normal citizens, just as neighbourhood-watch members are, but will assist the police only occasionally. “To be eligible volunteers must not have a criminal record.”
Partnership
The South African Police Service announced the Community in Blue programme as part of the Community Policing Strategy (CPS) launched in 2018. It is described as a strategic platform to get communities involved in the fight against crime, which focuses on police establishing partnerships and enhancing working relations with members of communities.
Sector policing, which splits the policing area into smaller manageable sectors, forms part of the community policing concept. It involves the assignment of police officers to a particular sector which encourages regular patrol and increased interaction with members of local communities.
