Eye on the prize for Hout Bay station commander

“Hout Bay is a beautiful place and I will do my utmost with the team that I have to make it safer.”

These are the words of Hout Bay police station’s new man in charge.

Lieutenant Colonel Jerome Syster took over as station commander earlier this year and immediately got stuck into business, leaving little time to properly introduce himself to Hout Bay.

“When I arrived at Hout Bay, there were a lot of challenges. We have managed to overcome some of these issues and look forward to move on from here. The manpower is one challenge but I have all my trust in these members as they are doing well under the current circumstances that they are working under.”

Lieutenant Colonel Syster worked at Kraaifontein SAPS for 24 years before moving to Manenberg SAPS for four years and from there, joined the 10111 and Flying Squad. For two years, he served as the acting station commander at Brackenfell SAPS and was then appointed as the Vispol Commander for another year before moving to Hout Bay SAPS.

“For the majority of my career, I have worked in the Crime Prevention environment,” he proudly said.

During his brief time at the station, he has observed that assault cases are high in Hout Bay, especially in Imizamo Yethu and Hangberg.

“I started to look into the causes for these crimes and found that some were alcohol related as well as domestic violence related. We are currently looking to appoint a Social Crime Prevention officer that will and must work very closely with the community,” Lieutenant Colonel Syster said.

While he remained adamant that crime in Hout Bay was “reasonably under control”, the new station commander hopes the situation can improve even further.

"I always try to do my best and to help the community wherever I have worked. Any time when I make a positive difference is a highlight. A statistical success for me would be during my time spent as acting station commander at Brackenfell SAPS, the crime was the lowest it has been in 10 years,“ Lieutenant Colonel Syster said.

"We are going to try to be proactive as opposed to reactive. The contact crimes need attention and we are going to make this a priority going forward.“