Hillbrow. The word conjures up images of high-rise slums and streets rife with crime. But in this week’s crime statistics, the Hillbrow police station was singled out as one of the country’s better stations.
How has it raised its crime detection rate by 12% and notched up a 10% increase in the number of cases it brings to court?
Director Johan Ndlovu, Hillbrow’s acting station commissioner, said the recent restructuring drive by the South African Police Service (SAPS) was a key reason.
At the Union Buildings on Tuesday, the SAPS outlined some elements of the revamp, including moving experienced officers from area and provincial levels to police stations in the front line of crime prevention.
More physical resources, such as vehicles, had been allocated to stations. Specialised crime units — such as the family violence, child protection and sexual offences units — had been decentralised and moved to what police management terms ”accounting stations” or ”super stations”.
Accounting stations, of which Hillbrow is one, serve a cluster of between four and six neighbouring stations. Based at an accounting station, FCS (family violence, child protection and sexual offences) officers serve the cluster, as opposed to working from a centralised point.
Deputy National Commissioner Mala Singh said the restructuring was piloted in Gauteng last year. National roll-out started in January and February this year and was due for completion by March next year.
Explaining how the changes had affected the Hillbrow station, Ndlovu said it now served as an accounting station for Hillbrow, Parkview and Yeoville, and was run by senior officers who brought their experience to bear on the ground.
Hillbrow’s station commissioner, currently on leave, was the former area commissioner for the East Rand and Ndlovu used to be his area deputy. The station’s new head of crime prevention is the former Sandton station commissioner, while the head of Hillbrow’s support services is the former station commissioner in Jeppe.
More than 100 additional staff members, including the senior officers, were allocated to Hillbrow last September. The new members came from the former FCS units, serious and violent crime units and crime combating units, said Ndlovu.
He said that basing an FCS unit at Hillbrow had led to a higher rate of arrests for domestic violence and sexual offences. Last month 15 FCS cases were opened and 13 suspects arrested in Hillbrow alone.
”It’s very good because these members are concentrating only on three stations, as opposed to the whole of Johannesburg,” he said.
Ndlovu said additional data enterers and administrative staff had meant that police officers were not tied to the office. The station had increased foot patrols, allowing police to establish a personal relationship with residents.
”You cannot police any community without that community,” he said. ”They are the source of our intelligence, we cannot work without them.”
The station had dedicated sector managers responsible for each area under its jurisdiction, including Hillbrow, Berea, Joubert Park, Parktown, Braamfontein and Killarney.
Once a month sector managers held a meeting with officers from their sector to discuss community concerns — in addition to meetings of a community policing forum, which also worked out of the station.
Ndlovu said Hillbrow now had an ample supply of vehicles, ensuring continued support for foot patrols and visible policing.
He was adamant that the improvements of the past six months would continue. ”We’ve been here only a few months. I can’t wait to see the picture after a year.”
