Police keep the faith when fighting crime

GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - The Garden Route's District Spiritual Crime Prevention Desk was officially opened during an event at the Civic Centre on Sunday 7 May.

Garden Route District Commissioner Maj Gen Norman Modishana was joined by clergy from the religious sector in the region for the launch.

These religious leaders displayed their support for the initiative when they signed a pledge in support of the desk.

The event was also attended by community police forums, governmental departments, non-governmental organisations, youth formations, community safety structures and the broader community, culminating in visits to police stations in the district where similar desks had been established during the past year.

The desk is led by local religious leaders from across different faiths. Spiritual crime prevention is a community-based approach introduced in 2019 that aims to address prevalent crimes in communities.

It further envisaged to bring strategic stakeholders together where skills and resources are shared in crime prevention initiatives.

The police band at the ceremony.

The desk is built on five pillars:

Maximising the participation of faith-based organisations in crime prevention
Creating platforms to address moral decay in communities
Intensifying moral and religious education
Implementing integrated and focused moral regeneration programmes or projects in a co-ordinated manner which draws on the resources of all government agencies, including civil society
Promoting community participation and youth initiatives in crime prevention activities

Major General Norman Modishana (Garden Route District Commissioner) signing the pledge while Archbishop Reyalno Booyce (chairperson of the Garden Route Spiritual Crime Prevention Desk) looks on.

Chairperson of the desk Archbishop Reyalno Booyce called on everyone to join hands in fighting high crime levels as a common enemy that is threatening the safety of communities.

Addressing the audience of about 750 attendees, Modishana praised the commitment showed by the religious community in the district.

"The partnerships established among the various sectors in the fight against crime are greatly commendable. Those partnering with the police can count on the support of police management. By signing this pledge, all of us commit to take hands in the fight against crime and to ensure that systems are fully functional and accessible to victims of crime. I also want to appeal to everyone to pray for this structure as well as the successful implementation of programmes to follow," he said.