Trevor Hermanus was elected chairperson of the Overberg Cluster Community Policing Board (OCCPB) on 22 February.
An ex-police officer with experience in many different units, he became a crime prevention practitioner after leaving the force, focusing on crime prevention projects in the Overberg district. He is the creator and coordinator of the successful Overberg Patrol Officer Programme, where unemployed youth are trained and equipped as community patrol officers and people are trained and their capacities built for neighbourhood watch systems.
A community policing forum is a legal community structure established in terms of the SAPS Act and is mandated to facilitate community relations within a specific police station precinct, and serves as the mouthpiece of the community with the police and vice versa on policing matters and other relevant safety issues.
Hermanus, who is also the chairperson of the Theewaterskloof Municipality local drug action committee, explained his mission as chairperson of the OCCPB as follows:
“I want to build strong partnerships and unite the criminal justice system for better service delivery to all communities. Also, to ensure CPFs play a big role in the fight against GBV as well as the monitoring of parolees, substance abusers and the buying of stolen property. To reduce violence and murders in communities I will focus on illegal shebeens and the selling of drugs.
“I will attend to community’s complaints about corrupt policemen and will keep the police accountable for bad service delivery to the community.
“I aim to build good relationships between the police service and the CPF, ensuring the police are more compassionate and focused on the community they serve.
“I invite all communities to partake in their local CPF’s crime prevention projects and report bad service to the CPF chairperson in their region.”. Theewaterskloof:Caledon: Mr M. Davids 063 054 7550Grabouw: Mr D. Williams 071 921 1515Villiersdorp: Mr D. Van den Berg 082 326 0213Genadendal: Ms C. Barthus 076 700 5257Riviersonderend: Past Miles 083 490 5968
. Cape Agulhas:Struisbaai: Mr S. Lourens 082 568 3022Bredasdorp: Mr E. White 060 385 2443Napier: Ms Y. Claasen 083 233 9122
. Overstrand:Gansbaai: Ms J. Barlow 082 332 6634Stanford: Ms C. Volkwyn 072 902 6509Hermanus: Mr Kopolo 079 283 1196Kleinmond: Mr J. Oosthuizen 067 364 7023
. Trevor Hermanus can be contacted on 076 109 5366 or at trevorhermanus@live.com