Command centres lead by members of the community, police officers and reservists will be set up in the fight against crime in rural areas. This is expected to benefit the farming community.
Pretoria Rekord reports that the establishment of these centres were formalised during a meeting about the recent spate in farm attacks. National police commissioner General Khehla Sitole and other senior police officials with Agri SA, TLU SA and AfriForum were present at the meeting on Monday, October 5.
The centres will be established within three months, in the hopes of significantly reducing crime in rural areas, and promoting trust between the police are local communities. It was agreed by members at the meeting that visible policing is essential in combatting farm attacks.
“These command centres will see the integrated approach to deal with criminality in the rural areas,” said police spokesperson Vishnu Naidoo. “This will realise the integration of personnel and use of helicopters and drones.”
Police and agricultural unions will meet quarterly to monitor the progress of the command centres.
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