Cape Town: The Law Enforcement Department has been fine-tuning plans over the past few years to provide opportunities to volunteers in a non-uniform capacity, as they have a 52-person strong corps in play.
Reportedly, the non-uniformed volunteers assist with administrative tasks and other support services including the IT support, community engagement and supporting crime prevention partnership programmes.
However, as the name suggests, they do not wear the Law Enforcement uniform or engage in field operations.
Furthermore, the non-uniformed volunteers are supervised by the Area Law Enforcement Staff, who continued their duties and like their uniformed counterparts that are expected to complete at least 16 hours of service every month.
Considering this, Member of the Mayoral Committee for Safety and Security – Alderman JP Smith said that this has been a long time coming and these civilian volunteers are critical to the operations.
Smith added that the public sees the officers on the road are doing patrols and roadblocks and pursuing suspects. He noted that there is so much support work that is required to make it all happen, by ensuring that shifts are coordinated, vehicles are available and equipment is sourced and available for operational use.
As the Law Enforcement Department operates on a 24-hour basis, these volunteers handle crucial administrative needs and reduce the load on permanent staff.
Currently, the City of Cape Town is a uniformed Law Enforcement auxiliary service that has been up and running since 2-13, with more than 250 members.
Notably, the recent addition of the non-uniform members takes the overall complement of volunteers to more than 300 attendees, as a collective, completed 18,896 hours of service in the three months between July and September.
There’s a specific criterion for this, as those applying for civilian volunteer duties need to be 18 and have at least a Grade-10 qualification. They should be of good standing and have no criminal record.
One should not be accused in an ongoing or pending criminal case that is of a serious nature. Should subject as him or herself to an internal vetting process, should complete the prescribed entry-level cognitive assessment successfully, should comply with the prescribed drug test policy of the city and should also comply with any other conditions as determined by the Law Enforcement HR Branch.