September 1, 2005
By Ndaba Dlamini
SHE remembers watching the movie 21 Hours at Munich as a young girl and being impressed by a brave policewoman starring in the film. From then on, Beauty Legoabe wanted to wear the uniform of a law-enforcer and net criminals.
Almost 20 years later Legoabe is the chief superintendent in the City of Johannesburg's Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) - and is heading for even greater heights. She recently graduated with top honours from the National Academy at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States.
Looking chic in her JMPD uniform, Legoabe now manages metro police staff, including mobile and static staff and those assigned to protecting the City's executive mayor. She also has a host of other duties in the department.
In her large, airy office, a huge plasma screen television set sits on one wall. A collection of badges from different police departments the world over adorn a side cabinet.
Legoabe completed a 10-week advanced investigative, management and fitness training course with the FBI that is aimed at selected police officers who have proven track records. The course was conducted at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.
"The course ran from 1 January to 18 March 2005. I was actually nominated after interviews were conducted by a former deputy chief in the Los Angels Police Department. I was one of the four candidates - all of them women - who were vying to be principal candidate to be sent to America," Legoabe explains.
To qualify as principal candidate, a person had to have the necessary qualifications to study at university level, be in a managerial position and have served at least 16 years in the law enforcement sector. Legoabe met all these criteria.
"I have served 19 years in the law enforcement sector and I will be completing 20 years in January 2006. Before being appointed to the JMPD, I served in the South African Police Service for 16 years. I should say I actually grew up in the law enforcement sector," she laughs.
A lover of African jazz and an ardent netball player, Legoabe grew up in the township of Mamelodi, in Pretoria. The high level of crime in the township concerned her and she vowed to rid it of crime when she grew up. "I told myself I will be a policewoman no matter what."
At the FBI Academy, Legoabe says, out of 250 students, most of them chiefs and deputy chiefs from law enforcement bodies worldwide, there were only 14 women. "A mere drop in the ocean."
Out of those 14, she was the only black woman.
Legoabe believes women should be "developed and empowered. And when they are ready, they should be placed in higher positions that were historically the domain of men." She is willing to mentor women in the force as part of her vision.
The course was academically challenging, Legoabe adds. The students had to complete more than five modules out of a choice of 20.
"I covered courses dealing with interviewing and interrogation, managing death, law enforcement that included stress management, and an overview of forensic science for police administrators and managers."
Physical training was mandatory, with exercises three times a week and a 13-mile (21km) challenge. For completing that, students were given a yellow brick as a reward.
Despite the challenges that Legoabe faced in America, she says the course and the physical training contributed tremendously to her personal growth. She is now able to "plough back into the organisation what she learned during her stay in America".
"I would love to go back to America - but not during winter. I would love to see my other colleagues I attended the first interview with also attending the course in the near future. It was an unforgettable experience," she says.
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