Fifteen new police recruits were given a taste of their new jobs when they went on a raid in Hanover Park.
The recruits graduated last Wednesday and have joined the Philippi SAPS in its fight against crime.
The Daily Voice stieked uit on Friday when they were taken into the heart of gangland, as part of their orientation.
They were led by Philippi Station commander, Dennis Ables, and top cop, Lieutenant Colonel Desmond Laing, who literally kicked down doors to obtain hidden stashes of drugs and alcohol.
Next to an illegal shebeen in Lomond Court, the cops discovered Basil Buck, 37, who has been living inside an electricity substation.
Laing says they’ve been trying to remove Basil from the premises for two years, but each time he comes back.
“We have removed him before and the City locks the room and every time he opens it.”
But Basil says he is providing a “necessary service”.
“When the power goes off, I switch people’s electricity on again. I don’t touch anything really, so it’s not dangerous,” he claims.
“I don’t have anywhere else to go. My mother lives next door.”
Buck promised to move soon, but Ables said next time they would not be so lenient and would arrest him.
“This is a highly dangerous spot to live in,” he adds.
At their next stop in Lomond Court, the new recruits were given a chance to search persons at an illegal shebeen, where they found “vaal” wyn, stashed in beer bottles and plastic bottles.
“It is my wine and I take the responsibility,” said a young woman brashly, who was arrested.
At a third shebeen in Kariba court, Laing found a secret hideout in a wall, where illegal liquor was hidden away. Two men were arrested.
HANDS UP: Police graduates got a taste of their new job
In John Down Walk, the recruits met Cecil “Ses” Brown, who claims he is no longer leader of the Mongrels gang.
“Those are all things of the past, I have stopped that way of life,” he told cops, claiming he is now a fishmonger.
“I stopped that business three years ago after Major General Jeremy Vearey arrested me.
“I am rustig now. I am selling fish and waiting for a license.”
The Daily Voice was not allowed to speak to the new recruits, who were on high alert, some looking a bit shell-shocked, throughout the operation.