A community, teamwork approach to crime fighting has proven its worth across the country. The people of Humewood recommitted themselves to this collective approach at a meeting held earlier this month.
The meeting was hosted by the Humewood SAPS at their offices, and crime problems was a hot topic of discussion, says Fidelity ADT’s branch manager for Port Elizabeth, Ryan Britz.
“Everyone at the meeting agreed once again about the importance to cooperate with Humewood SAPS. The station covers Richmond Hill, Central and the beachfront areas of South End, Humewood and Summerstrand. All the community crime fighting bodies present at the meeting committed to mutual cooperation, and our community development manager Ian Dangers attended the meeting where he delivered the same message on our behalf,” says Britz.
“We are proud to be active in all parts of Port Elizabeth and often attend community meetings such as the one held in Humewood. We know the importance of sharing crime related information and these meetings are an ideal platform to do so. The members spoke about crime trends and modus operandi as well as the latest innovations which we can use in community safety,” he added.
One such tool is the Community Information Centre (CIC) which was established by Fidelity ADT a few years ago.
“The CIC was created to enhance our efforts in looking after the safety and security of our communities. Over the last few years, it has seen numerous successes in terms of arrests, apprehensions, resolved municipal issues and stolen goods being recovered. By assessing the statistics and in-depth feedback from the different community bodies, such as the neighbourhood watches, and the Port Elizabeth community at large, it clearly indicates that the CIC has made a massive impact in the fight against crime,” says Britz.
The members also confirmed that reducing crime can further be achieved through strategic roadblocks, crime intervention operations, visibility drives, as well as the continued enforcement of the Disaster Management Act regulations.
