Paradise in the UK

I really had to giggle this morning when I listened to the news about this “cop” up North with his record amount of arrests. Over 300 “villains” under a year. But of course, this is here and he comes from a country where crime is rife because of – well, many reasons.

The reality of every day life in South Africa, from what I remember, was something like this:-

You don’t walk around on your own after dark, especially if you are female.

You don’t walk around, any time of the day, wearing jewellery, male or female.

You didn’t go and to the bank to draw money on your own.

You get taught how to shoot a gun by the time you hit your teens because no doubt your dad has a gun, so does your brother and your uncles and your neighbour.

You learn how to defend yourself, not because it is an “in” thing to do and a fun thing to keep fit, you do it because your life depends on it.

You never keep to the speed limit when driving. You never stop at traffic lights when its dark but slow down a bit, look left and right, and then just put your foot down and drive for fear of being hi-jacked.

There is a reason that the South African Police has such a reputation for being “hard” – as it is stated in this article, they get shot at everyday, threatened with horrible things and work in really harsh conditions.

My nephew-in-law is a member of the “Flying Squad” in Johannesburg – the Flying Squad are the people who get called in when things are really bad, basically the SWAT guys and they get to go into things like hostage situations, homicides and kidnappings. It terrifies me because he is married to my niece and they have a young family to look after, but he is never oblivious of the danger – because it is something that you grow up with and become used to, you just carry on with your piece and hope to make a difference.

Every single police station in SA has a barricade infront of it – huge sandbags to prevent thrown explosives. There are metal detectors when you enter their offices. They are basically a group of people under siege, that thin red line between crime that is becoming worse every day.

No wonder this chap, Mr. Coetzee is having such a blast up North. What is termed hard here is a bit farcical compared to the horrors he must have seen back in the day in Johannesburg.

By ANDREW PARKER – from the Sun newspaper

A FORMER South African policeman has smashed the British record for arrests — nabbing more than 300 villains in under a year.

Diederik Coetzee used to carry TWO guns and wear a bullet-proof vest on the streets of apartheid-era Johannesburg in his homeland.

Now he is bringing justice to the rundown Ladybrook estate at Mansfield, Notts, armed with CS gas, a baton and a mountain bike.
PC Coetzee, 48, crushed the previous Nottinghamshire best of 242 arrests in only seven months.
He is now on 309, having passed the old UK record of 305 with two months in hand.
Now he aims to top 380 collars by the end of this year and make it 400 in 2006.

The PC said: “It’s a joy getting up each morning for work. For me it really is a way of life.
“In South Africa I wore a bullet-proof vest and carried a shotgun and sidearm. I was shot at by car thieves and burglars on an almost daily basis. At least that doesn’t happen here. All I carry is a CS gas canister and a baton. So from a policing point of view it’s something like paradise.”

PC Coetzee spent 24 years as an explosives and dog handler in Johannesburg before emigrating eight years ago.

The married dad of two had to spend two years as a resident before he could return to policing.
Five years into his role as beat manager for Ladybrook, he has been hailed “Supercop” by delighted residents.

The superfit officer added: “I’ve got to know the criminals and they all know me. But they don’t try to run now, because they know I’ll catch them.

“The people tell me Ladybrook was a dump before I came here. It used to be a hotspot for drugs and car crime. But then I got down to work.”

Paradise, indeed! And people still ask us why we moved here...if that isn't proof, then I don't know what is!