People's Post Lansdowne - 3 November 2020

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LANSDOWNE

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TUESDAY 3 November 2020 | Tel: 021 910 6500 | Email: post@peoplespost.co.za | Website: www.peoplespost.co.za

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People’s Post

SUPPORT

Be a victim counsellor SAMANTHA LEE-JACOBS SAMANTHA.LEE@PEOPLESPOST.CO.ZA @SAMANTHA_LEE121

S

everal police stations are accepting volunteer counsellors to bolster the Victim Empowerment Programme (VEP). The programme aims to support victims and survivors of crime and violence along with their families in dealing with the impact of these incidents. It also deals with all kinds of victimisation including violence against women, domestic violence, victims of sexual assault (rape and sexual abuse), abuse of elderly, abuse of people with disabilities, human trafficking and xenophobia. The ideal candidate is someone who: . Has a strong desire to assist the community as volunteer. . Has experience in counselling and support. . Lives in the police precinct. . Works well with people. . Has no criminal record. Police confirm volunteers will be vetted before being able to join the programme. Serg Zita Norman, spokesperson for the Athlone police station, says the VEP is vital to any station. “(The VEP is a place of safety) within a police station, where victims of crime can go to and receive the necessary counselling and guidance for their unique situation,” she says. Lansdowne community policing forum (CPF) chair Rafique Flofloker agrees. “The main goal is to provide short term counselling and support and trauma counselling and support to victims of crime,” he says. “It is also to empower them with next steps and help them to take back control of their lives and emerge as survivors of crime.” The programme is short-term and is not a substitute for professional psychological help, he says.

The Lansdowne precinct, which includes Rondebosch East, Ottery and Wetton among other areas, is currently operating with no volunteers. Floflonker says the CPF is stepping in to assist in the interim while they run drives to attract volunteers. “We would like to have five counsellors. Right now we do not have any counsellors since the lockdown,” he says. At the Athlone station, they have two volunteers. “There is no specific term assigned,” Norman says. “(Volunteers) avail themselves to victims of crime, to have empathy and mostly confidentiality on all matters. A clean criminal record is a requirement. To have a good partnership and relationship with police.” With only two current volunteers, the support unit does not meet the requirements. The CPF has an oversight role while the VEP remains an extension of the police station, run by community volunteers. Because the counsellors deal with trauma, volunteers must be level-headed, emotionally balanced, have a willingness to learn and have good listening skills, says Floflonker. “There is a great need for volunteers to avail themselves as there are many people within the community that have the skills needed to assist that can make a difference,” says Norman. “If you want to be part of the change and be the reason someone recovered, believed in life again and now is helping others, sign up as we as police need you.” V To apply or for more information in the Lansdowne police precinct, contact Capt Faeezah Appels on 079 894 0090 during office hours. V To apply or for more information in the Philippi police precinct, call 021 690 1500. V To apply or for more information in the Athlone police precinct, contact Const Chandre Pretorius on 021 697 9238/39. V To apply or for more information in the Grassy Park police precinct call 021 700 3929. V To apply or for more information in the Manenberg police precinct, call 021 699 9400.

Dog unit gets boost The department of community safety has donated R2 350 million and two vehicles toward the City of Cape Town’s metro police K9 unit for the 2020/21 financial year. The unit has 25 dogs and 23 handlers especially trained to sniff out narcotics, explosives and detect missing persons. Pictured is a demonstration of the dog detecting and locating a missing person.

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