MOSSEL BAY NEWS - With the 13 detectives at the KwaNonqaba Police Station estimated to have up to 300 dockets each, the work situation has been deemed "impossible".
The information on the hundreds of cases came to light after members of the community in the KwaNonaqaba policing precinct made several complaints to the KwaNonqaba Community Policing Forum (CPF) chairman, Shadrack Shishana.
Complaints
Shishana said many in the community had told him and other CPF members they felt as though the police, the detectives in particular, ignored their complaints.
"Some people have told me they will give a detective information on a case they have opened at the station and are told a detective will come and see them, but a few days or a week later, those same community members will get an SMS from the court, saying the case has been struck from the roll or an SMS from police saying the case has been closed," said Shishana.
Mossel Bay Advertiser contacted police officers across the Garden Route following Shishana's statement and discovered that KwaNonqaba's 13 detectives are reportedly handling up to 300 dockets each.
The Advertiser has been reliably informed that other police stations in the greater Mossel Bay area are also struggling with their caseloads, however, it appears KwaNonqaba detectives have the most dockets.
National standard
Former detective of nine years and Oudtshoorn Stock Theft Unit member of 17 years, Warrant Officer Fasie de Kock said the national standard is a maximum of between 65 to 70 dockets per detective.
De Kock, who retired from the police three years ago, said Garden Route detectives' number of caseloads, including KwaNonqaba, are staggering.
"There are detectives at stations across the Garden Route that are currently handling more than 200 dockets. It is impossible to do proper investigative work on each of those cases," he said.
He said this hampered service delivery to communities.
De Kock said not only must a detective investigate each case, they must prepare them for court, subpoena witnesses, attend autopsies, gather and submit evidence, attend court, obtain statements from witnesses and much more.
Added to this, detectives are not paid over-time.
No overtime, no incentives
A police detective from the greater Mossel Bay area who wished not to be named, said there were no incentives and no overtime for detectives unless they worked in operations organised by the province.
"The detectives in the area have so many dockets and are out of the office more than in the office, so how are they supposed to get all of their administration done? Then they end up with service complaints," said the detective.
Questions
The Advertiser sent questions to the provincial police on Monday, 3 March, regarding the caseloads and a second set of questions regarding overtime for detectives and what the average caseload for a detective should be on Tuesday, 4 March. There were no responses at the time of going to print.
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