The legacy of the late Izak Oberholzer, who was responsible for community policing initiatives and social crime prevention at Milnerton Police Station before his death in 1999, continues with the 25th “Obie” roaming the streets of Milnerton.
After his passing in 1999 the Milnerton Crime Watch Trust was founded.
“Izak was a young and passionate member of the police, very interactive with the community and played a pivotal role in establishing Milnerton Crime Watch.
He wasn’t involved with the CPF in Milnerton per se.
At that time it was more a direct link between members of the community and the Milnerton Neighbourhood Watch which was failing at the time in numbers.
Izak was key to rallying a few of the watches’ members to form a committee and start the Milnerton Crime Watch project,” says Craig Pedersen, project manager of the Milnerton Crime Watch Trust.
The key behind the project was to create a safer community in conjunction with the police.
“The Milnerton Crime Watch Trust has now been running for over 20 years.
The project has three active patrol cars in their distinctive yellow and black markings affectionately known by the community as ‘bumblebees’.
These cars patrol the Milnerton central precinct 24 x 7 manned by armed response officers who are paid by the community who belong to the project.
The vehicles are all fitted with state-of- the-art technology to ensure that we maintain the upper hand on crime in the Milnerton central area.
“The vehicles in use have always been branded as ‘Obie’ in memory of Izak who sadly passed away at the young age of 29 (due to medical causes).
Milnerton Crime Watch has just put Obie 25 on the road as the latest addition to its fleet – 20 years of service to the community and its 25th vehicle.
Milnerton Crime Watch has seven permanent patrol officers who on average have 10 years service with the project.
It prides itself on being the traditional ‘bobby on the beat’ in the community,” says Pedersen.
Each member of the community contributes monthly towards the running costs of the patrol vehicles and these funds are administered by trustees and an executive committee which is elected at a general meeting each year.
Members of the exco freely give their time to assist with the administration and management of the project, so all funds collected are transparently used directly for patrols and patrol related costs.
“MCWT has actively reduced the crime levels in the Milnerton central area by 80% since it’s inception and kept them there!
That in itself speaks of the project’s effectiveness.
Unlike private security companies, there is no profit motive, no sale of products just for the sake of a sale – it’s 100% community driven and focused.
“The vehicles’ patrol patterns are coordinated by myself in conjunction with the exco on a monthly basis to ensure that the areas that are a concern to the community receive the attention that they need,” he says.
The patrol vehicles are regularly tasked to patrol the schools, churches and public spaces within the area at key times of day to guarantee high visibility at all times.
As the project is community funded and driven, the patrol vehicles adopt an “active patrol” position rather than the common “park and wait” model of armed response companies.
This sees MCWT doing an average of 17 000 patrol kilometers in the area per month – exactly the level of coverage that the area needs to keep crime at bay.
“We maintain an exceptional working relationship with our local police officers at Milnerton and work hand in hand with them to ensure that we continue to achieve successes.
A great example of this would be the September arrest of three suspects who attempted to rob the Millvale Road Spar.
“The suspects were chased and apprehended within minutes and two firearms recovered.
The suspects were handed to Milnerton police for processing and further investigation.
It’s exactly this level of cooperation between the police and community lead projects that leads to great results and lowered crime levels.
“The Milnerton Crime Watch Trust patrols the areas between Koeberg Road and the sea, and Boundary Road to Racecourse Road.
It has also lead to a mirrored project under independent control of the community in Tygerhof,” Pedersen says.
Pedersen wrote a book on community-safety and security to help guide residents on the basic principles of how to improve homeowners’ basic security.
The book was circulated through the community free of charge (about 1 000 copies) and is also available as a free download at https://www.crime-watch.co.za/book.pdf
