Volunteers in emergency services honoured
The organiser of this prestigious ceremony, Captain Troy Laas, the head of reservists for the cluster, detailed the whole idea behind the awards.
For the first time, the Johannesburg West Cluster for police reservists, Emergency Management Services and Community Police Forum members, were honoured for their dedicated service in one venue during the JHB West Cluster Awards on 1 December.
Held at Rumours Lounge in Cresta, the event saw the volunteers from different sector clad in their formal attire and some in full duty uniform to commemorate the occasion.
The organiser of this prestigious ceremony, Captain Troy Laas, the head of reservists for the cluster, detailed the whole idea behind the awards. “The purpose of the event was to recognise the hardworking and dedicated members of the community who serve on a voluntary basis in the emergency services community. This event was to give recognition to the three areas in our community that being the SAPS Reservists who serve the cluster, the CPF and the EMS volunteers, who do so without remuneration and of their own time,” he said.
In the previous years, the awards only catered for the reservists, but Laas explained that this year they’ve decided to collaborate the function since all volunteer emergency services worked together in the community.
At station level, Honeydew Police Station had the following award recipients: Captain Peter Heres received Most Improved SAPS Reservist; Constables Celia and Anton Mostert earned the Best Contribution to the SAPS Reservist; Top Cop (Reservist) for Honeydew SAPS went to Warrant Officer Allan Baudry; Top CPF member went to Jon Rosenberg. Captain Colin Morris from the Honeydew Police Uniform Unit received a special 30-year service medal for his three decades in the police.
At a provincial level, Lieutenant Colonel Julia Claassen, the corporate communication provincial head official, was honoured for her contributions to making the event a meaningful success.
Laas explained the duties and what it takes to be a reservist. “In the police, a reservist are members of the public who decide to give off their time freely without remuneration. They abide by the same rules and regulations a normal police officer abides by including having the same legal rights or arresting rights, but the difference is reservists work their own hours – they don’t have fixed hours because they don’t get paid by the state,” he elaborated.
For keen individuals, Laas said, “If a person wants to be a reservist they need to have matric and be employed. However, they can’t be working at an industry that is a conflict of interest to the police meaning they can’t be security guards, debt collectors, politicians or journalists.
“If they meet this criterion, they can apply to their nearest police station with the possession of a copy of their matric certificate, ID and proof of employment. An application will be filled at the station and criminal background check will be done,” Laas unpacked.
He concluded by thanking all roles players for making the possible including Hot 91.9 Community Radio, their main sponsor.
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