Hanover Park crime fighters have vowed to fight a plan by Police Minister Bheki Cele to move their toughest cop to Grassy Park.
After more than 10 years, Colonel Dawood Laing, 54, has received a new rank and will move to Grassy Park Police Station on 1 January where he will take over as station commander.
He was one of 403 cops who received their new ranks from the police minister during a ceremony last week.
“In total, I have been a police officer for 37 years, but I also served at the VIP unit. When I started at Philippi Police Station, my main aim was to get unity in the community so we can tackle gangsterism,” Laing says.
“In all my years, I have always served as the a vispol commander and often stand in as station commander and cluster commander, but this is the first time I will officially be a station commander, so I am excited.”
Community Police Forum (CPF) chair Ebrahiem Abrahams says while they are celebrating Laing’s achievements, they are not ready to let him go and in the coming weeks will take to the streets to protest.
“His new rank is well deserved because he is the most hands-on officer we have. Every drug raid, liquor operation or crime scene, there is Laing and he is only the vispol commander,” says Abrahams.
“We, however, don’t think it’s fair that the police are taking the best officer we have. He is the only man who tackles skollies and crime head-on without fear. The gangsters are bang of him and that is how it should be.”
The CPF will now write a letter to provincial commissioner, Lieutenant-General Khombinkosi Jula, to appeal the decision.
“We are asking them to leave Laing where he is. We will write a letter, we will picket and we are starting #HandsOffLaing. We need him in Hanover Park,” adds Abrahams.