March 12, 2003
By Tendai Dhliwayo
ORANGE FARM, south of Johannesburg, has received three mobile police stations from the provincial Department of Safety and Liaison in an attempt to improve policing in the area.
Department spokesperson, Mpone Mangole, said the vans, which will be in the area for a fortnight, would help officials from the department to monitor and evaluate progress of police services after repeated complaints by the residents of cases going unresolved.
"The community used to complain of inefficiency by the police," she said.
With the deployment of the caravans, she added, people whose cases have not been solved or have been closed can bring their case numbers and explain to the officials the problems they encountered, thus allowing cases to be reopened.
By deploying caravans, she said, "we are trying to bring services closer to the people".
Aside from Orange Farm, the department intends extending the services to other crime hotspots in the province, added Mangole.
