Police are slow?
Mr Turconi waited and waited and still the police did not arrive
Saish Motheram | 13 November 2013 13:05
Local businessman Mr Pier Turconi’s house was broken into on Saturday
afternoon, and police took close to 12 hours to respond.
Mr Turconi, who stays at 8 Gloucester Street, arrived home at about 8pm to find that his house had been burgled. Robbers had broken in and stolen valuables and a computer.
Mr Turconi, who stays at 8 Gloucester Street, arrived home at about 8pm to find that his house had been burgled. Robbers had broken in and stolen valuables and a computer.
He immediately called his alarm company, who were there within minutes.
The alarm company contacted the police in the presence of Mr Turconi and gave
the control room all the necessary information so they could dispatch a vehicle
to respond. They were informed that a vehicle would be sent out, but it would
be delayed as they were busy with a shift change.
Mr Turconi waited and waited and still the police did not arrive, so at
11pm he pressed his panic button to alert Secure SA. Secure SA responded within
minutes and the police were phoned again with all the details. The SAPS allege
they could not find the house because there was no street number outside.
However, the house has a reflective Secure SA sign with the house number
printed on it.
Police officers eventually arrived at 4.50am in the morning. Ironically,
they first went to the wrong house and had to be redirected to Mr Turconi’s
house. Later in the day, the Turconis spotted a man in their yard. “We
contacted the investigating officer, but he has still not gotten in touch with
us,” says a baffled Pier.
Police respond to allegations of arriving late:
According to the complainant’s statement, he first contacted his
security company to alert police of the incident and then contacted a local
community-based security network. Police received a call at around 7.30pm and
immediately dispatched a vehicle. However, the address given was 9 Leicester
Street. The complaint was thus finalised as a ‘negative’ complaint.
Based on our records, the information provided to us by yourselves and
bearing in mind that the complainant has not approached us to clarify
allegations of any kind despite working closely with police since the case was
opened, we must therefore draw the conclusion that there was miscommunication
regarding the address of the complainant.
After being alerted of the correct address the following morning, police
immediately attended and a case was opened. With regard to the second incident
to which you refer, it must be made clear that the incident was not an
attempted robbery nor attempted housebreaking. We are aware that the
complainant alerted the investigating officer via SMS that he had heard his
dogs barking and suspected that someone may have been in the vicinity.
According to our information, the complainant did not see anyone, but gave
police details about someone whom he thought may be a possible suspect in the
housebreaking. This information police are currently following up on.
In order to avoid miscommunication, we advise members of the community
to contact police directly and not via a third party.
Where it does happen that there is a delay in attending to their complaint or if they are unhappy with the services they received, complainants should contact the shift commander on duty on 036-638-3312. Should they still find no recourse, they are welcome to request to speak to the station duty officer, the Visible Policing commander or the station commander. It is always better to clear up a misunderstanding while a matter is still fresh. Delay in doing so creates unnecessary frustration and unhappiness for all involved.
Where it does happen that there is a delay in attending to their complaint or if they are unhappy with the services they received, complainants should contact the shift commander on duty on 036-638-3312. Should they still find no recourse, they are welcome to request to speak to the station duty officer, the Visible Policing commander or the station commander. It is always better to clear up a misunderstanding while a matter is still fresh. Delay in doing so creates unnecessary frustration and unhappiness for all involved.
