Police visibility at school
Ockie van Niekerk, Chairman of CPF Sector 3:
The Standard Bank / York High School International evening is the school’s biggest annual fundraiser.
I arranged with our Sector 3 Commander for police visibility inside the school campus, and said I would sponsor them something to eat and to drink.
The event started at 16:00 on Friday, 1 March. We searched all learners coming in with bags and York Safety and Security panel was strict with regards to entrance. Just after 17:00 a taxi full of occupants parked near York’s entrance. The music was unbearable and we could smell weed and saw them consuming alcohol.
No police visibility was experienced, and I called 10111 to ask for assistance especially with regards to the illegal practices around the school.
I was busy inside to attend to a complaint from one of the Safety and Security members when a George Police Colonel approached me in civil clothes. She immediately informed me that they do not have the manpower to put permanent people at our event. I explained to her that we did not require that and that I only wanted visibility inside and outside, not on a permanent basis. When they left the campus, I asked the three police officers to please intervene with the taxi situation outside, especially due to the fact that they were causing havoc and that everyone that was passing the school would think that it was our learners that were behaving in such a bad way.
The occupants in the taxi were from other places and definitely not from York
High. The alcohol abuse and weed smoking was shameful. Bottles and rubbish were thrown everywhere on the school’s pavement. The police intervened at the taxi and left again without any solution to our problem. The taxi driver and occupants went on with their illegal activities.
We locked the gate at 19:45 and I was demanded by some taxi occupants to let them in, because they wanted to buy tickets. I refused and asked them to leave. The taxi moved and stopped in the middle of the road. The occupants were dancing, singing and preventing traffic from passing.
One of our teachers politely asked the driver of the taxi to park on the side due to the traffic and the havoc that had been caused by them. He replied by calling the teacher “a racist dog”. There was no sign of any police visibility. I went to the taxi driver and insisted that he leave. After they left, everything went back to normal.
It is submitted with great concern that I, Chairman of Sector 3 Community Police Forum under your domain am facing severe issues with regards to police visibility and safety of our learners and their parents during an evening event, as you must have known that several incidents of drug abuse, theft, stabbing and cell phone snatching have been reported in our sector since the start of this year.
Learners of York High are scared of going outside the school’s premises, especially after sunset. In spite of complaining about our problem during Friday evening to the concerned Police, no action has been taken. In this situation of chaos, we need your attention to intervene into the disruptive evils in our society. A school and its surroundings are supposed to be a safe place and we need the support of our police force to assist in any situation where safety is compromised.
I need to emphasize that I am proud of our York High learners who stayed inside our campus to wait for their parents due to not wanting to be associated with the havoc outside.
I urge our George Police force to maintain the high standard of service to the community which is set out in their Mission and Vision Statement.