Please note that the e-mails coming through from toticrime@yahoogroups.com have nothing to do with the CCPO.  Pls contact them directly should you wish to be removed from their data base.

Thank you!
Tracy Campbell

Queries as to what one can expect from the CCPO cross my desk periodically and so I wanted to share this with those who may not have been given the correct information regarding our CCPO strategy.

"For the entire time I have paid my fees to CCPO I have never once seen anyone from CCPO patrol past my house. Is this something I should expect or am I merely paying towards the protection of the community at large? Is it something to which I am entitled?"

I shall recap on what the CCPO is all about. The statistics say it all; Toti police station won the prize for the most improved area, regarding crime in the country. They did not do this on their own.

However sometimes members have not been informed correctly as to the strategy of the CCPO.

The CCPO is a community organisation where the community pay for the services of guards whom we hire from a security company and place in and around Amanzimtoti. Our aim is to rid Toti of crime and prevent crime before it happens. The more, of the community, who sign up, the more guards we can employ. Guards are placed at strategic points mainly in the business areas of Toti and patrol these areas in order to eradicate crime. The residential areas that are constantly affected by crime are recognised and guards are put in these streets until we have moved the bad elements away from these spots. Then moving on to other troubled spots. We employ the services of Blue Security who are our armed response and respond when called upon to do so. We do not have alarms you are our alarm. Our aim is not so much guarding your residence as your self where ever you may be in Amanzimtoti. When you feel you are in danger you are able to call for assistance or when you recognise that there is a possible criminal act about to take place you call us and we respond, alerting the SAPS a well. Remember as we are trying to be Pro active, the crime does not take place, and will not become a feature in the paper, we have helped solve the problem before there was one. What you read in the paper, is only a small fraction of what CCPO is involved in.

CCPO will not be patrolling your street on any regular basis, unless your area is experiencing an unusual amount of criminal activity, our numbers do not allow for that at this stage. CCPO have been instrumental in cutting crime by as much as 50% here in Toti and it is a community effort. All our guards are radio linked to the supervisors and control room.

In the event of an incident you call our emergency number (083 393 5066) and we are there within minutes. Blues Security Control Room is where your emergency call is received and they dispatch assistance via radio to Blue Response Vehicles employed by CCPO as well as our own Operations Personnel of which we have a supervisor on each shift and an Operations Manager. We operate 24 hours a day. All residents in Toti have already benefited by what we have done in Toti over the past 20 months.

I hope the above has made our methods clearer to you and you continue to support the CCPO. We thank you for your membership thus far and hope you continue to see the benefits of supporting the CCPO.

Long roads such a Kingsway are too long to have guards patrol effectively and so we constantly have vehicles up and down that road. It is not always practical to have a guard walk these stretches. Hence, the need for the vehicles.

Regards
Tracy

Unfortunately the time has come to increase our member contributions.  Our rates were set in May 2007 thereafter we absorbed the tariff increase set out by our service providers in Sept 07 and then again in Sept 08.  We did increase our rate in April 2008 when we became VAT registered, however, this 14% is paid directly to SARS and has not increased our income.  In some instances, a few members who pay by EFT/stop order have not increased their pmts by the 14%, however we still need to pay across 14% of their contribution, leaving us with a balance of only R87.72.

Our initial intention was that contributions would not need to be increased at all; however, although membership is increasing steadily, it is not happening quickly enough to avoid an increase.  We are well aware of the tight budget and financial constraints due to the current economic climate; however, an increase of 10% is unavoidable.  If you pay by debit order your contribution will automatically be adjusted with effect from 1 April 2009.  We ask that members paying by EFT, cheque or cash make the necessary adjustments.

That means the new rate for a

We take this opportunity to thank our members for their unwavering support, which has ensured the success of the CCPO thus far.

Regards
Richard Allkins
(CCPO Committee Chairman)

By now everyone should be back into work again forgetting that Christmas was just 40 days ago. All that hype and then we spend the next year paying it off!!!

Well a few things to tell you about.

Hyundai Amanzimtoti has sponsored a new black Hyundai Atos for Yvonne to run around in. Lucky thing Vonnie! Wonder if I can get one too????

They deserve a round of applause and of course a Big Thank you from the Committee and all members of the CCPO. Von loves her car, it is nippy, and air conditioned, has a CD. Player, power steering and on top of all that the Atos is affordable. So remember if you are in the market for a new vehicle don't forget to stop in at Hyundai Amanzimtoti 031 9166266.

In my last newsletter we mentioned that we wanted to start a Guard Reward Scheme and we have had a few sponsors come forward. Fred McKenzie owner of Wimpy Toti as well as Arbour Crossing is to sponsor a meal on a monthly basis as well as Marc Henwood of Turbo Exchange-Kzn who is to give us a monthly financial donation which we shall utilize as a prize, the idea of issuing a medal monthly has also been discussed. We have not yet finalised exactly what we are going to do there, but thank you both for putting the needs of your community first and Thanks go out to Mr and Mrs De Lange who have given us a cash donation to be utilized in this scheme. Lastly thanks to John Lewis of  Lentas Beverages, Volt Energy Drinks for sponsoring a 6 pack of Volt Energy Drinks monthly. (You guys are all stars*******)

Joanne Van Heerden is also on the receiving end of our gratitude for sponsoring the First Aid Kits that we required; I shall be collecting those later today. Thank you Joanne.

Despite times being hard and some people have resigned membership for financial reasons, but not many, we continue to grow each and every month. We have been averaging around 10 resignations a month but the majority of these as many as 8 out of every 10 are leaving Toti, with the majority of those leaving SA. We still need to educate the community of Amanzimtoti that it is not about guarding your residence but rather about looking after you the individual and keeping the community safe when out and about in Amanzimtoti. Therefore because you have another security company does not mean they do not need to support CCPO, we need the support. We look after the entire community, we do not respond to an alarm ringing in a control room but calls for help from individuals no matter where in our little village they happen to be. So every one of you members, take up pens and contracts and see if you can get at least one other to join this month. Remember strength in numbers!  Forward this e mail to a friend.

Yes times are hard and guarding is not cheap. We have not increased the tariff from the inception in June 2007, only the VAT was added to contributions and there are still many who have not increased their monthly EFT payments, cash contributions and cheque payments by the VAT. This means we are getting less from them than we were in the beginning. Members we are going to have to increase our tariff at some stage soon this year. Sorry! But it has to go up. You shall be notified. At this time it is under discussion.

Thanks from the Community

We would like to thank the CCPO and the Toti police for the professional and swift action in arresting suspects who stole tiles and sanitary ware from our construction site at Riverside road on Monday night the 26 Jan 2009. One of the suspects is a worker at the site and we know, that this has been going on for quite a while! Thank you for being so alert and dedicated to fight crime in the area. We hope that more and more people contribute to this organization.

Thank you again and God bless!!!

Dr Cor and Hildegard van Rensburg

One of our members has a friend in Kampala and this was her comment

"Its great that everyone in Toti seems to be sticking together and forming their "own" force so as to speak."

Kim sent in this note.

This is a letter of many Thanks to Les and the men who helped my mother in law and my daughter with the robbery which happened at about 4:30 yesterday afternoon.  Your response and help was amazing and really calmed down my daughter (who is only 6) and of course my mother in law.  Although my daughter was scared about the whole situation, she was also excited to see "the big army man" as she put it and the policemen and policewomen that also responded to the call as well as Blue Security.  So thanks again for everything you have done for us and keep up the brilliant work, you and your men really are doing a good job, my family and I are very appreciated for all your work and think you are the best we could ask for.

Thanks again for everything...

Thank you, members of the community, for conveying your appreciation for the work that both CCPO and the SAPS undertake in our joint efforts at Creating a safer place to live...together!

Oh nearly forgot to tell you that things are happening towards my proposed move to the container office, donated by M Projects, which is situated at Lords and Legends. Possibly around mid March I shall be able to move. Will keep you informed.

Keep your monthly contributions coming in we need all the assistance we can get.

Look after yourselves and stay vigilant.

Regards
Tracy