Suspended CPF chairman Hanif Loonat says a culture of silence prevents station commanders from complaining about the shortage of resources.
|||Cape Town - Suspended Community Police Forum chairman Hanif Loonat says that a culture of toeing the line and silence in the police prevents station commanders from complaining about the shortage of resources.
Asked if there was a crisis in the ratio of officers to population on the Cape Flats, Loonat said the “(human) resources around Cape Town definitely need to be revisited to ensure equal distribution”.
He would not be drawn into making a judgement on distribution, but said station commanders must speak out if they needed more officers. It reflected badly on their crime statistics, reputation and track record if they continued with understaffed teams, he said.
“The MEC (for Community Safety Dan Plato) often visits crime-ridden areas.
“He really listens to the concerns of the community and the CPF is in position to raise issues with him.”
Loonat was suspended last week for criticising, in comments to the media, the efficacy of the Athlone police station. Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant-General Arno Lamoer said Loonat faced a number of other undisclosed charges.
Loonat has vowed to clear his name and expose a conspiracy against him.
On Tuesday, a delegation from the Civilian Secretariat for Police, which oversees CPFs nationally, met Loonat and was scheduled to meet Lamoer.
daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za
Cape Argus