24 May 2009, 10:10 pm
On Friday night a massive crime prevention operation took place in Jeffreys Bay that involved Police from Humansdorp, Traffic officials from the Kouga Municipality, the CPF, Security Companies, the Jeffreys Bay Crime Prevention Unit and the Sector Policemen.
A seizure operation on an illegal shebeen had been planned and in a well co-ordinated operation about 13 police vans and a flat bed truck moved into the shanty suburb of Ocean View. The objective was to close down the shebeen, confiscate the liquor and if possible even the fridges, which would all be used as evidence in the prosecution of the owner.
All those involved in the operation met at the local police station at 8 pm for a final briefing. Firstly everybody dispersed through the suburbs of the town as a show of force to display that all the arms of Jeffreys Bay Law Enforcement meant business that night.
After a relatively quiet week crime was on the rise in town. A spike in theft from motor vehicles had been experienced as well as a few cars that had been stolen. The streets were patrolled looking for known faces as a few habitual criminals were back on the streets after being released from prison.
The first of a number of arrests for drunk driving also occurred. Youngsters who were endangering their own and other people’s lives by doing donuts outside the municipal building in the main road and jumping stop streets at high speed soon saw the cells at the police station start to fill up.
When the raid on the shebeen took place, the Crime Prevention Unit stopped outside the converted house and quickly moved in to clear the illegal tavern of its customers. While some policemen stayed outside to guard the police vans against possible attack, others moved in to assist with the confiscation of crates and crates of beer and other drinks.
Once the liquor was dropped off at the police station, the paperwork began. Itemizing every bottle of beer and the cash was a painstaking affair, to ensure that no mistakes were made that could be challenged in court after all the hard and dangerous work had been completed.
Then it was backs to the streets to sort out fights that had broken out, attend to requests for help from the public and domestic violence cases that kept being reported throughout the night. Other night clubs and taverns that had been operating past their permissible closing times were visited by the Police and told to obey the law.
While cruising down Diaz Road at 2 am, an alert policeman spotted a violent and habitual criminal from Thornhill lurking amongst the cars and looking suspicious. The close co-operation within the Kouga Law Enforcement branches quickly revealed that the man was on bail from a case and that there was another suspect operating with him who was wanted by the Thornhill Police.
Arrests were made for more traffic offences as well as assaults which had caused the cells to fill up. By 4 am Jeffreys Bay started to slumber off and the dedicated individuals from all the Law Enforcement agencies that are tasked with keeping us safe in our beds at night headed home to catch a few hours of well deserved sleep.
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