MOSSEL BAY NEWS - As of 11 December last year, Da Gamaskop Police Station in D'Almeida, Mossel Bay, has had a new station commander.
The position of station commander is nothing new to Colonel Mteto Ronald Sepepa (56). He started his career in the police service in 1990 in Hermanus and went on to serve as the station commander at Stanford, Pacaltsdorp and Thembalethu police stations before arriving at Da Gamaskop.
He says being a station commander is a nice job, albeit a challenging one.
Only having been in the area a little more that three months, Sepepa says he has not quite identified all the challenges his new position poses.
Personnel shortages, he admits, are a challenge here, as at most other police stations.
Something he highlights as a positive aspect of the community, is the commitment from the public in assisting the police, especially the neighbourhood watches and community policing forum (CPF).
Compared to some of the stations he came from, contact crimes are far fewer here, but, he admits, each community has its own challenges along with expectations of what is considered normal statistics for an area.
One of the focus points is to address drug and alcohol abuse by increasing police visibility, especially where the youth is involved. He says the abuse of these substances often leads to more serious contact crimes.
Although police receive much-needed support from structures like the CPF, Sepepa says he would like to see community members getting involved in these structures, because they are the ones who know what happens in the areas where they live.
As far as reaching this goal from the police's side, he says it starts with conversations with the community in the form of imbizos.
The plan is to mobilise the community in smaller groups, for example, street committees.
He also highlighted the role that religious leaders could play in supporting the community and police in the endeavour to curb crime. He said he has seen this work. Operations are carried out on the one side and prayer is carried out on the other.
On the personal side, when he is not carrying out his duties as station commander, Sepepa said he is not one for going out, but rather enjoys his time at home with his family.
On the sports front, although they cause him another type of concern at times, he supports Kaizer Chiefs.
