Publications
Partners
In a city where safety is a shared concern, Cape Town’s crime fighters have united to chart a new course in community policing – the signing of a new constitution for Community Policing Forums (CPFs) in the province.
The signing ceremony, held at the Milnerton Police Station last week, marked a pivotal moment in the ongoing efforts to foster stronger ties between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve.
Spearheaded by the provincial CPF board, the event drew the participation of Community Safety MEC Reagen Allen and provincial police commissioner, Thembisile Patekile.
Justin Kumlehn, one of the provincial CPF board members and a crime fighter in the broader Milnerton area, told TygerBurger that despite facing numerous challenges and obstacles, they worked to change the constitution to align organisational structures due to changes in police structures.
“There are a number of changes; the majority speak to the change from cluster to districts,” Kumlehn said.
Challenges
In the past, each police station was grouped into a cluster and as such, the CPF committees were structured the same way.
However, the changes from clusters to districts mean CPFs will be able to work together easily.
There are currently 151 CPFs in the province – one for each police station “within the promise”, Kumlehn added.
“The change from clusters to districts will now align the CPF with the operational structure of the police allowing better communication and smoother working relations culminating in a more cohesive working partnership. This will ultimately benefit the community.
There were also amendments to strengthen the code of conduct and to introduce mechanisms to deal with members that have political aspirations, improvements on voting processes and dealing with associations linked to the CPF as well as various definitions as well as legal prescripts that we needed to align with due to changes made over the years,” Kumlehn told TygerBurger.
Asked what the biggest challenges facing CPFs in the province are, Kumlehn pointed out the lack of resources, “especially at station level so as to allow a CPF to function effectively, dedicated budget to allow a CPF to run social crime prevention projects, Lack of regulatory framework for neighbourhood watch structures and the continuous safety threat towards CPF and neighbourhood watch members these are just a few of the challenges experienced,” he said.
