About Us	Search	Advertising

	Brought to you by:

POLICE sources say the SAPS Provincial Commissioner has declared 2007 the "year of the detective" and crippling staff shortages at police stations across the province are to be addressed this year through the deployment of graduates and students to police stations in need.

This comes as good news to the Kirstenhof Police, who have long had a nearly 50% shortage of detectives. They will now be receiving six new placements in their detective branch.

Captain Johan Brink, branch commander at Kirstenhof, explains that the ideal number of detectives at any station is determined by the Human Resources division of SAPS, according to factors such as the size of the area the station serves.

"There has been a shortage of personnel everywhere, which means that no station has had enough officials. The provincial commissioner has now deployed the entire intake of new officers to the detective branches at various stations," he says gratefully.

Though Kirstenhof is happy to receive the extra hands, some obstacles have arisen in accommodating the new members, who have nowhere to live when they start their duties this week.

The allocation of police officers by the province has not taken into account the areas in which the offi?cers currently live. For example, in the case of Kirstenhof, the station will be getting five members from Beaufort West and one from Paarl.

Captain Brink says, "When I joined the service in the late 1980s, you joined, signed an indemnity, and were just placed. A lot of us went to posts in Gauteng and then had to fight for a transfer back to Cape Town".

Captain Brink says it was practice that police did not work in the areas in which they lived, but he is concerned about the new detectives at his station because they are students. "One of them lives in Paarl and has only been to Kirstenhof once. He told me that he has nowhere to stay because he doesn't know anyone here and is unfami?liar with the area," he says.

"Students arrive under the assumption that there will be barracks at the station that they can stay in until they make other arrangements, but this station doesn't have barracks.

"And, because of the deployment of detectives, other barracks are already full as a lot of stations are getting new people," Brink says.

Kirstenhof SAPS therefore appeals to the local community to assist with accommodating their new detectives for their first few months of service, until they are able to make other arrangements.

"We would like to ask anyone who has even a Wendy house, garage or any other accommodation to help our students for the first two of three months, until they can sort something out.

"It is difficult for them because, as students, they only earn a small sum, and can't afford to pay market-related rent," Captain Brink says.

"The new detectives are very welcome, but we don't want them to be discouraged ? a negative detective on the job is worse than having nobody at all. We want them to come to work with a positive approach and keep the eagerness they have already shown throughout their time here."

The provincial SAPS media centre was unable to comment about the detective deployment and referred all questions to the relevant police stations.

	Back to top
©