The killing of police officers not only robs the community of officials but robs families of mothers, fathers, sons and daughters.
That was the message from Eastern Cape provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Liziwe Ntshinga, who on Friday urged community members to help fight crime.
She was speaking at the Humansdorp Country Club.
About 2,000 people from various police clusters and municipal departments were in attendance.
According to police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu, the recent attack on officers in Kareedouw had prompted Ntshinga to conduct an imbizo.
Its aim was to support and involve the community in joint problem identification and solving.
The attack took place in August when four armed men entered the Kareedouw Community Service Centre and overpowered the constable on duty before taking firearms from the safe and a police hand radio.
“Ntshinga highlighted that the purpose of the event was to inform the community that the community and police management can come together to resolve issues pertaining to [SAPS] service delivery,” Naidu said.
Ntshinga said police officers were at the front line of service delivery, so their safety and the safeguarding of police stations were a national priority.
She urged the community to report corrupt police officials so that the law could deal with them.
“We are here to exchange views and experiences on how to tackle crime levels within our society and to build strong community partnerships,” Ntshinga said.
Safety and liaison MEC Weziwe Tikana called on residents to take responsibility and assist police in preventing crimes.
She said some police stations were up to 20km from the residents they served, which meant the community had to help police.
Naidu said the imbizo concluded on a positive note, with police management pledging to attend to their concerns.