NEWS 7
PEOPLE'S POST | WOODSTOCK | MAITLAND Thursday, 30 January 2014
OBSERVATORY: NEW START FOR CRIME-COMBATING FORUM
United front against crime
NICOLE MCCAIN #@nickymccain
Woodstock police and members of a defunct Observatory Community Police Forum chapter are willing to bury the hatchet to tackle crime. A Woodstock CPF annual general meeting will be held in the next quarter to elect a new Observatory subforum. The chapter, which falls under the Woodstock CPF, was disbanded last year after several resignations left the organisation with an unconstitutional amount of members, explains chairperson Howard Smith. “As an interim measure, we have a small number of members working towards holding an annual general meeting in which new members will be elected,” he says. The Woodstock CPF still functions and meets with police and sector representatives monthly, says Woodstock police spokesperson Sergeant Hilton Malila. “The deputy chairperson of the Woodstock CPF is also the chairperson of the Observatory subsector forum, and as we speak she is busy mobilising the relevant roleplayers in order to get the subforum up and running again as usual,” he says. The Observatory chapter and Woodstock police experienced a troubled relationship, with allegations flung at police that they were unwilling to attend meetings. However, Smith believes the lack of cooperation stemmed from both sides. “There were instances where the police missed meetings, but there were also individuals on the CPF who didn’t hold their end. It cuts two ways. For instance, there was an occasion when police officers arrived 10 minutes late to find the CPF members had left the meeting. I don’t condone arriving late to a meeting, but one must be willing to make allowances,” he says.
NEW BEGINNINGS: Woodstock police and the nascent Observatory chapter of the Woodstock Community Police Forum are willing to set aside past issues in order to effectively combat crime. PHOTO: NICOLE MCCAIN The drastic turn in the relationship came as a surprise to police, Malila says. “There was always communication between the Woodstock police and Observatory Subsector forum. At monthly CPF meetings held at the station, Observatory was represented throughout the year. At the last
subform meeting we attended in Observatory in November, the relationship was still good. We don’t know what happened after that, but we found out that some of the roleplayers pulled away from the subform,” he says. Smith believes the reconstituted chapter
is essential to a lasting solution to combat crime. “I don’t think past problems will happen again if we have commitment from both sides. We’re looking for members who are willing to build cooperation and not assume it is a given,” he says.