Understanding Hoedspruit Farmwatch Operational Structure
Exploring the operational and organizational details of Hoedspruit Farmwatch, a voluntary association working in collaboration with various entities to enhance community safety in the region. From its established entity as a legal voluntary association to its structural pillars encompassing different units, this presentation sheds light on their functions and membership details.
- Community safety
- Voluntary association
- Operational structure
- Organizational details
- Hoedspruit Farmwatch
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Presentation Transcript
What we will share with you today We will look at three different sections to this presentation: Operational Details Organisational Details How we do it Who we are and what we do Thoughts and Input What to keep in mind Who we are, what we do and how we do it
Organisation at a Glance HOEDSPRUIT CPF HOEDSPRUIT FARMWATCH VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATION HOEDSPRUIT SAPS Management Team Hoedspruit Medical Rescue (partners) General Membership Intelligence/ Detectives Reaction unit Patrol Drivers Stopper Groups Operational partners: SAPS Specialist Units (NIU, Trio TT, CIU, TRT etc.) GKEPF (Greater Kruger Environmental Protection Foundation) Neighbouring CPF s and FW s Provincial Services (EMS, Fire Dept., Traffic Dept., Disaster Management etc) Alpha Squad Additional Members Victim Support Unit
Established Entity Function entirely on voluntary capacity Legal identity Voluntary Association Established and approved Constitution Falls under regional CPF A voluntary group or union is a group of individuals who enter into an agreement, usually as volunteers, to form a body to accomplish a purpose Recognizes as a legal entity
Structural Pillars Originally, Farmwatch functioned under 3 different pillars In the last 12 months, we have added on 2 different pillars and thus now function on a 5 pillar basis.
Structural Pillars STOPPER GROUPS REACTION UNIT PATROL DRIVERS INTELLIGENCE/ DETECTIVE UNIT GENERAL MEMBERSHIP Families pay R50 per family per month 2 Trained members who react and assist with various incidents Collects Data on Crime Scenes and Analyses for in depth knowledge and understan ding of what is happening in area Assist reaction unit and block off roads at pre- allocated points in response to major incidents volunteer s per sector per night drive patrols every evening, midnight and early morning
General Membership Anyone and everyone is the Greater Hoedspruit Region is welcome to join Hoedspruit Farmwatch as a general member. This requires a monthly donation of R50 per family per month or R600 per year. In return they are added onto a bulk SMS system (through bulksms.co.za) They are allowed to install the general emergency channel onto their radio s to call for assistance when required Receive benefits of trained Reaction Unit
Patrol Drivers Our primary pillar is our Patrols Greater Hoedspruit is divided up into 12 different sectors, based on roads and location. Residents from each sector patrol within their sector only. Every night there are at least 2 volunteers driving patrol in each sector (total of at approx 10-20 vehicles on the road in entire area each evening) Approximately 230 volunteers involved
Daily Patrol Schedule Every day the patrol duties for that day are sent out to all whatsapp groups to remind who is on duty as well as to let others know who will be patrolling other sectors . everyone in the Liverpool and Town have their own duty roster
Reaction Unit Our Reaction Unit is growing every week. The Reaction Unit are responsible for reaction to any specific emergency or incident in the area. Receive continuous training Are equipped with resources to do the job We propose that members join shooting clubs together, to establish confidence in each other and your abilities
Reaction Unit (cont.) Has separate Communication Systems Within Reaction Unit, we have different subsections Management/ EXCO team (5 members) Alpha Squad (most experienced, reliable and trained individuals around 10 members) Detective squad responsible for contributing to investigations, or brainstorming around information or identification of potential suspects Victim Support Unit Paramedic services Primary Operational Unit to Hoedspruit Farmwatch
Victim Support Unit As a sister organisation and working alongside the Reaction Unit, is the Hoedspruit Victim Support Unit. Primary focus is to offer emotional diffusion process to victims of traumatic incidents within the first 72 hours after an incident. Also assists with calming victims down enough for Reaction Unit and police to get immediate and accurate information on suspects involved. Take control of victims and their immediate scene Assist further with necessary police processes such as drawing up of A1 statements, assisting families with Autopsy & Identification processes of deceased victims, assist with identity parades etc. Also assist with emotional wellbeing of Reaction unit members when required
Intelligence This is one of the newest sections added to Hoedspruit Farmwatch and falls under the Reaction Unit. The Intelligence unit is responsible for collection and collation of data from all crime scenes. Visits all local scenes and works closely with identified individuals from neighbouring areas (criminals move between various areas) to enable the sharing of identified information. Benefits of this have been huge so far. Enabled us to gain detailed information on crime in our area.
Intelligence (cont) Hoedspruit Farmwatch is currently working with internationally renowned developers to produce platforms and resources to assist community organisations from around the country to do the same for themselves. (discussed in more detail later on) Intelligence enables Farmwatch to work on a more proactive basis and not just a reactive basis.
Stopper Groups In addition to the intelligence section of the Reaction Unit, the development of Stopper Groups is also a very new aspect added to the Hoedspruit Farmwatch structural pillars. Developed on the backbone of regular assessment and debriefing that occurs after every incident. The idea is that rather than have all responding volunteers driving around in an adhoc and chaotic fashion in response to a call out, the greater area has been assessed and suitable locations identified that can assist in blocking all roads with immediate affect.
Stopper Groups (cont) Stopper groups comprise of the Reaction Unit plus additional volunteers from the patrol drivers group who wish to assist with major incidents. All volunteers have been broken up into groups and allocated to specific locations close to their homes. When required, they are expected to drive directly to their stopper location and immediately set up a road block effectively shutting down the region within minutes. All stopper group volunteers have gone through specific training dealing with all aspects related to setting up a road block, from legalities involved, to how best to situate all vehicles, as well as how to communicate with and handle stopping vehicles. Every stopper group has a leader who is responsible for the management and coordination of the group Stopper Groups very effective one of the primary contributions to our recent success in stopping the CIT gang.
Backup Members All of the above sectors are headed up by an identified individual from the management team. For each of our primary positions within Farmwatch, we have a backup member. Crucial for continued running of the various sectors within the unit Reality is, is as volunteers, there are times when we may be away or even if around, may be committed to personal issues, and thus a backup needs to be able to take over and perform the functions of the primary responsible member
Scope of Work Hoedspruit Farmwatch will assist any person within the borders of the Greater Hoedspruit Region, who s life or who s property is under threat. Assistance is offered at, but not limited to, the following incidents: All forms of criminal incidents Suicides and traumatic deaths Traffic accidents Aircraft accidents Veld and House fires Natural Disaster s (such floods in 2012 and massive hail storms in 2017) Community unrest (only where other communities or their property is under threat) Anti-poaching and Wildlife Crime Drug related issues and incidents Illegal immigrants Road block and stop and search operations Mediators in labour unrest situations
Communications The cornerstone to successful operations are our communication networks. We function on 4 different communication processes Two way radio channels Bulk SMS system Smaller Whatsapp Groups Emails All communications are managed through a central point/ person
Communications (cont) Two Way Radio Channels Primarily 4 channels General emergency channel Patrol channel Reaction Unit Channel Reaction Unit Simplex Channel Also now have a digital channel with primary members on this channel. Radio tests run twice a week all community members encouraged to join Bulk SMS System Over 2000 people connected to this. Used to send important bulk info to community. Benefit is that it does not allow for or encourage misuse of the group by members on the group as is done with whatsapp groups.
Communications (cont) Whatsapp Groups 2 primary groups a general group and a reaction unit group. The general group is for all new reaction unit group members as well as other identified community members. Once they have proved themselves as committed, they are then added to the Reaction Unit group Individual groups for each patrol sector as well as primary wildlife estate areas Also a Bestuur'sgroep and a Speurder sGroep STRICT DISCIPLINE ON ALL WHATSAPP GROUPS no general comms, no thumbs up, no poems, no thankyou s etc No photos to be taken and shared on scenes, specifically of suspects and victims Emails We also have the ability to send out emails to all members and to reaction unit members should we need to send out documentation etc. that is best served via email. Done via Google Group
Responding to Calls A call for assistance or point of concern will be received either via our emergency number or via radio call. Answered by our central contact point. Emergency phone permanently diverted to 2 or 3 other numbers so there is always someone to answer the phone. Central contact point will assist the need and then dispatch assistance as necessary eg Reaction unit members, SAPS, EMS, Traffic, Fire Dept etc. All operations on the ground are then continued through this central point. Central point gives feedback via whastapp group as various services are confirmed eg Reported to Cst Ngwenya @ 15h30. On the scene one member must take control and responsibility of the scene and will hand it over immediately to a policeman on their arrival. In turn, respondents on the ground need to give feedback to to the central contact point on activities on the ground as well as when all parties are standing down and leaving scene SAFELY
Training Hoedspruit Farmwatch Reaction Unit members go through regular training to assist in all that needs to be done. Training includes: General Law and Legal Aspects related to all work undertaken Fire arm handling and legal issues related to Fire arms Affecting arrest with minimal force House penetration Management of traffic accident scenes Fire fighting and use of fire fighting equipment Crime Scene management First Aid (Reaction unit members qualified as level III first aid responders) Conducting of Road blocks Ad hoc training on any specific identified resource or aspect as and when required
Data Collection & Collation The collection and collation of data is a crucial aspect in both record keeping as well as the development of an intelligence aspect to a Reaction Unit Currently we are in the developmental stage, with a 3rd party partner, to develop a collection platform that will be free for all Farmwatch units/ CPF s etc. anywhere in the country and will be easy to use, and available on Smartphones (initially android based but currently working on apple development as well). Built on the US Military strategy known as ES2 meaning that Every Soldier is a Sensor. This means that every person reacting to a scene is in fact a sensor and can assist in gathering important information This section is very important and we suggest that we will come and do a training course on this section entirely once you are established
Meetings Meetings are held every 2nd Month on the first Tuesday of the month for all Reaction unit members as well as identified partners as necessary Possibly have more frequent meetings for the first 2 years to initiate establishment and cooperation by all members Held in the evening after work Generally about 2 hours Crucial to sharing information, having joint discussions and making joint decisions and for maintaining discipline. SAPS and other crucial partners invited to meetings
Partnerships Another cornerstone of our success is the establishment of partnerships. Although most organizations such as this are initiated in spite of their local SAPS, it is very important to work hand in hand with them from the start. You are there to support them and help them and not to replace them. This is the same for local Fire Dept., Government Paramedic services, Traffic Dept. and Disaster Management Units. Work WITH them not against them nor instead of them Invite them to all meetings Show support and compassion when anything difficult happens to them. Create positive working relationships with them on all scenes. In addition to Government emergency services, it is also important to form partnerships with all resident security companies and anti-poaching units. Hoedspruit Farmwatch does not take sides at all , nor align with any single unit or company and avoids all forms of politics and will work with any group possible within the region. We also form partnerships with similar units in neighbouring towns and work together to combat crime moving from one sector to another
Resources and Equipment Over time, Farmwatch have purchased and secured a range of resources and equipment to enable us to offer the services as listed above: We supply all reaction unit members with high quality, branded Hi-Viz jackets for use on scenes where visibility is important as well as when uniformed wear is required. We have 3 different fire-fighting units together with protective wear situated in various locations around the region We have our own jaws-of-life unit for use in remote locations and where time is of the essence. 3 sets of night vision equipment We supply primary Reaction unit members with Level III Bullet proof vests, certified for high caliber weapons such as AK47 s (we desperately need to purchase more as we now have additional members) We also have a concealed protection vest that we have used for high target potential victims when required. Dash Cams all members have dash cams to record each and every incident we respond to this can be very helpful in proving levels of discipline and responsbility on a scene
Resources and Equipment Additional equipment used for crime and anti-poaching scenarios such as individual tracking units (trackimo s) We have a magnetic vehicle tracking device that we use for scenarios where it is important to track a vehicles movements. We are currently investigating equipment for identification of suspects via fingerprints and the creations of our own fingerprint database as well as basic criminal vetting services. We have a number of emergency road signs to be used during natural disasters and other such emergency situations We have a trailer equipped with a generator, flood lights and other emergency services to be used on any related scenes. We have a tracking dog and permanent handler We manage and maintain a network of informants to aid and assist in the obtaining of vital intel used in our Analysis and planning processes
Resources and Equipment We also have access to the following additional resources owned by members and partnership organisations that we make use of: Air support via gyrocopter and fixed wing light aircrafts Drones Additional tracking dogs specializing in either arms and ammunition, blood, horn, human tracks, animal tracks, drugs etc. Pack dogs to follow suspects together with air support various types of high level technology to assess breach of an area or movement of a suspect. A specialist tracking team comprising 4 highly experienced trackers.
Fundraising Obviously all of the above listed resources comes at a considerable price. General items are purchased through the contributions from the family membership donations In addition to this, an annual fund raising event was identified and hosted by Farmwatch, such as a concert by a nationally renowned singer, a golf day etc. In more recent years, and specifically after a successful operation, the greater community want to contribute towards Farmwatch activities as well and usually do so through the hosting various kinds of fundraising events to assist us further. The more successes you have, the more donations and contributions you will receive.
Our Successes To date we have a number of successes that prove the effectiveness of having such an organisation in the region. Within the first year of operations, crop theft was reduced by 80% A number of years ago, it was reported that Hoedspruit SAPS moved from position # 856 on a national listing, to position # 1 as a result of their successes. This they attributed directly to the contributions of Farmwatch. During the 2012 Floods, which were so extensive that we had over 100 households severely effected, we lost not a single life. This is due to the quick response of Farmwatch in evacuating household in potential dangerous locations as well as closing down of roads to avoid anyone traveling into risky areas In 2017 we had a spike in robberies and burglaries, averaging almost 3-4 a week. Within 6-8 months of developing our intelligence wing, together with well organised and coordinated responses from the Reaction Unit, we affected a number of arrests that resulted in us dropping that number down to Zero. From Nov 2017 until Apr 2018, we had zero incidents and since then only 1 or 2 additional incidents have occurred.
Our Successes Connected to one of the arrests made in October 2017, through our own record keeping and data collection of incidents, we were able to link 1 individual suspect to 60 different break-ins and have contributed to the successful prosecution of this suspect. Without our input he would only have been charged with possession of stolen items for 1 incident only by the arrests SAPS Over the years we have assisted with, and contributed towards the successful arrest of over 100 poachers In June 2018, through the effective implementation of our newly formed stopper groups, we were effectively able to trap a fleeing CIT gang who had conducted a CIT Heist in a neighbouring town. The entire operation resulted in the arrest of 7 out of 10 suspects including 1 fatality. We are currently assisting Eskom, Telkom and Transnet with the analysis of intelligence focusing on crucial infrastructure crime as this seems to be the latest crime of concern in our area. We have already contributed towards linking a number of their primary suspects with other organised crime operations.
NB Thoughts Partnerships, partnerships and partnerships you cannot do this alone. Form and maintain partnerships with everyone. Behaviour of members is crucial. Always to look neat. Hi-Viz jackets are to be zipped up and clean at all times. Look and act professional at all times All members to be polite and courteous to the public at all times, regardless of race or status. Keep all politics out. No alcohol is accepted at all. If members have had a drink or two in the evening when a call comes through, they must rather not respond. Alcohol will not be tolerated at all. VERY IMPORTANT no one does this for the glory or the spot light. We do this for the benefit of the community and to ensure the safety of our families, friends and neighbours. When ego s come into it, it will fail.
NB Thoughts In South Africa, we deal with a Nation of Unknowns every single person you arrest will NOT have an ID book, nor know his ID number. You need to find a way to deal with this in partnership with your police stations. Get your rural and low-income communities on board with you and develop relationships with them. That is where the criminals hide out and where a large base of information lies. This is usually best achieved by showing them you are there to help and care for them too. Follow up on arrests on a regular basis and keep track of which of your identified criminals are in custody and who have been released. It will immediately assist you in picking up repeat behaviours and incidents.
NB Thoughts You need a TannieJane someone who will answer the phone and the radio 24/7 and will handle all administration and communications for the unit. Nothing is ever a problem for her. Keep track of who had what stolen and related CAS # s. In addition to the above listed platforms, we also keep a basic spreadsheet with details from each and every crime scene possible. This proved very helpful when we were able to bring back bakkie loads of stolen items with arrested suspects and thereafter linking them to their original owners and subsequent CAS# s. Establish 1 or 2 individuals to be responsible for handling all media communications if and when required (usually after a successful operation or a high level criminal incident). Do not mention names or individuals, and rather talk about Farmwatch as a single unit. When media or press releases required, your allocated media representatives should draw up a press release as soon as possible and share with responsible media in order to mitigate wild assumptions and scenarios.
NB Thoughts Avoid all social media forms of communication. We DO NOT have a Facebook page and do not post anything socially of what we do (a lot of it is personal and confidential to the victims involved). We will monitor and correct any over- ambitious posts made by the community themselves. If there is a person willing to take on the establishment of such a division, it is recommended that you establish a victim support unit to work hand in hand with your Reaction unit. They can be very effective in obtaining information from victims as well as minimizing trauma experienced. You need to establish strong relationships with paramedic services that must be active members within Farmwatch KEEP EGO S AND POLITICS OUT OF IT ALL. If you are there to be a Hero, GET OUT! Do it for your commitment to the Community and to make South Africa a better country for ALL residents.
