The Spiritual Crime Prevention Programme at the Athlone Plice Station is instrumental in the co-operation between the station and the communities it serves.
Through this cooperation, the stigma that the police are the enemy is being eradicated and the communities are now working with the officers to make the Athlone precinct a better place for everyone.
“Two years ago, the Spiritual Crime Prevention programme was implemented by the police and all the church leaders in the Athlone communities were invited for a meeting at the police station to explain what the programme entails. After the meeting the church leaders realised they could also play a part in the prevention of crimes through spreading the Word and helping the youth to make better choices in life.
“The result not only benefitted the communities but every Monday at 07:30 the church leaders are at the police station to pray for the police officers as well as the communities they serve before the officers start their shifts. At the time crime was rife in the Athlone area and the police struggled to get criminals behind bars because of the distrust of the police in the communities,” says Sgt Zita Norman, spokesperson for Athlone police and crime coordinator who drives the programme at the station.
“We approached the church leaders to help us change the attitude of the communities by putting God first, through prayers and scripture reading. The church leaders pray for the police officers and the communities to be safe and have a crime-free day. In the past, the police were not trusted and only seen as people who came to make arrests and were not interested in what these arrests meant to the family who was left behind.
“We discovered that the communities were not forthcoming with information due to the assumption that we don’t care as long as the arrests were made. Over time we realised the communities we serve are not taking into consideration that we are also mothers, fathers, grandfathers etc and do feel their pain when we make the arrests. Initially it was hard for them to accept the fact that we must fulfill our duties as police officers first before we can offer support or sympathise with them when they’ve lost a loved one,” says Norman.
After forming the partnership with the church leaders, prayer marches and thanksgiving services are held annually and during these events the Athlone police and church leaders show their humane side.
“Through the marches and services we are able to comfort families who lost a loved one through crime. In some cases, the deceased was the breadwinner of the family and without his support they are struggling to make ends meet. Since the relationship between the police and the communities has progressed, we are able to go to the family to show our support as Athlone police and assist where possible.
“We had to start from scratch to build the bond of trust between us and the communities for them to accept our support and experience our sincerity,” Norman says.
As the crime coordinator at the police station she is available 24/7.
“When there is a crisis in one of the communities and they need the services of one of our church leaders, whether he is Muslim, Christian or Hindu, the police will contact him and he will be in contact with the family.
“The Vlei in Belgravia Estate is one of the hotspots in the Athlone Precinct and is known for gang activity and drug dealing. It is an unsafe place for everyone and since the partnership between us, the church leaders and the communities, we are able to go into The Vlei,” she says.
Families who have lost loved ones due to crimes can contact the police station for help on 021 697 9200.
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