Lansdowne’s police chief says he wants to strengthen community ties and bring down robberies in the area.
Colonel Alroy van der Bergh, 53, who took over the police station in November last year was born in Ravensmead, and after matriculating, he enrolled to study medicine at Stellenbosch University, but the thought of studying for ten years scared him, he says, so he went home and told his dad that he can’t continue.
He then studied teaching for one year at UWC, where, he says, he was involved in anti-apartheid protests, and it was then that he decided on a career in the police force.
At the age of 20, he started studying to be a police officer and worked his way up the ranks. He started at Ravensmead police station, where he stayed for 13 years and reached the rank of captain. The 16 stations he has worked at over the years include a 12-year stint at Bishop Lavis, where he was a gang task team commander, and postings as head of visible policing at both Woodstock and Gugulethu. He also studied law for eight years and has a law degree.
“As with all jobs, we have dips, and one day when I was driving to work, I thought no, I don’t want to be here. Many of my family said what am I still doing there? I can practise law because I had a law degree. So I made a U-turn. I said that Monday I would resign and practise law and drove back home. When in Parow another voice came to me and said that I was born to be a policeman and I made another U-turn and I am still here.”
Colonel van der Bergh says being a policeman in South Africa is challenging as many stations are under-resourced.
“There are some things we can’t change, but we are moving in the right direction.”
He says it’s important to build partnerships with the community and value input from residents.
“We are not here to subject the community to policing; we want to work with them.
“There is no way that we can make a difference if we don’t establish partnerships. Our community deserves the service that we signed up for.”
Robberies and thefts from vehicles are on the increase in the precinct, says Colonel Van der Bergh, and to combat them, police are analysing crime trends to see when and where these crimes are happening the most, and they have also increased visibility and are doing stop and searches.