ABERDEEN NEWS - Aberdeen’s station commander, Capt Vernon Minnaar, chaired an informative and well-received community meeting in Aberdeen earlier this month. Also in attendance from the SAPS were Vispol head W/O Ntontela, Det W/O Frazenburg, and CPO Cst Africa.
Few people attended, but nearly all those present agreed that Minnaar and his team do a good job, despite limited resources.
The area served by the local SAPS is vast, covering a stretch of about 80km along the N9 between Graaff-Reinet and Willowmore, 25km south east towards Klipplaat, and about 70km west towards Beaufort West. There are also over 100 commercial farms in the area.
According to Minnaar, there is a shortage of manpower, with only three or four members on each shift. If the vehicle is called out to an incident on a farm, it can take over an hour just in travelling time. During that time, there is no vehicle to respond in town.
Minnaar discussed recent crime patterns, pointing out an increase in the number of property-related cases in the last six months. He urged people not to buy stolen goods.
W/O Ntontela, Det W/O Frazenburg, Cst Africa and Capt Minnaar.
Of great concern to the police and the community is the drug problem. A recent raid on a known ‘drug house’ yielded no direct success, in that no drugs were found, but Minnaar hopes that an indirect success will be that the drug dealer is now aware of the police interest in him.
Children who roam the streets, and should be in school, is also a big problem. “This is because the children are unsupervised, and their parents don’t take responsibility for them,” said ward 1 cllr Willem Säfers.
Minnaar explained that this was a problem for Social Development, not the police. It was suggested that the SAPS, schools, churches, and social workers should work together to address this problem, and Minnaar agreed to arrange a meeting during October.
Minnaar concluded by urging residents to report all crimes, and also to report any evidence of corruption within the police. “Our core function is combatting crime,” he emphasised.
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