Superb Police Response

I WOULD like to write a letter to the public pertaining to a situation that my father and myself found ourselves in and the excellent response and service we received from both the City Police and Nampol recently.

My father has a morning ritual of going for his customary broetchen and coffee at the Wecke & Voigts coffee bar each morning. Well, on this particular morning, he parked in his usual spot across the road, along with his usual car guard, had his usual coffee and came out to find that his vehicle, a Land Cruiser station wagon, was gone.On asking the car guard about it, he said a man had approached the vehicle, jiggling the keys, so he thought it was okay.As it turned out, the man had targeted my father, followed him into the coffee bar and stolen his car keys from under his nose off the counter! My father called the City Police who were at the scene within three minutes! They immediately called all the roadblocks and reported the theft.During that afternoon we got no less than six or seven telephone calls verifying information and keeping us up to date with the search.The next morning at 08h00 we received a call from a delighted detective proudly informing us that the vehicle had been stopped at the Oshivelo roadblock.Apparently the number plates had already been switched and when asked to pull over at the roadblock, the brigands had gunned it out of there.However our trusty force of dedicated officers gave chase (guns blazing, apparently) with such determination that the scoundrels abandoned the vehicle post haste and ran off into the surrounding bush.(Hopefully this turn of events was as much inconvenient for them as it had been for us – they must have spent at least N$700 in petrol to get so far and were now stranded in the middle of nowhere with the Police after them – poetic justice at its best!) My father and I then went to fetch the vehicle.Unfortunately, due to a misunderstanding, the keys were no longer in the vehicle so we found ourselves 500 km from home at the outpost with a vehicle but no car keys (Don’t ask! Men, I find, NEVER have spare car keys!) Never mind, the intrepid commander at the Oshivelo roadblock immediately offered us the services of the outpost mechanic who proceeded to give us both an on-site demonstration on how best to “hot-wire” a vehicle – it’s not that simple but yes, involved many wires and the ubiquitous screwdriver – the man was brilliant! During this delay, we found the Police officers to be extremely polite, helpful, friendly and well turned out in their neat uniforms.All paperwork and proceedings were well documented and efficiently done.My father then left the Oshivelo roadblock with his “hot-wired” vehicle amidst a crowd of laughing and smiling onlookers milling around the vehicle that had caused all the commotion the day before.Much admiration was given to the awesome new bullet hole lodged squarely behind the driver side of the vehicle – don’t mess with this Police force, I say! We’d sincerely like to thank all the detectives and officers who contributed to the recovery and return of our vehicle – you guys did a great job! My father now continues with his ritual – needless to say, he now has a spare set of car keys and doesn’t leave them on the coffee counter! Fiona Nichol WindhoekWell, on this particular morning, he parked in his usual spot across the road, along with his usual car guard, had his usual coffee and came out to find that his vehicle, a Land Cruiser station wagon, was gone.On asking the car guard about it, he said a man had approached the vehicle, jiggling the keys, so he thought it was okay.As it turned out, the man had targeted my father, followed him into the coffee bar and stolen his car keys from under his nose off the counter! My father called the City Police who were at the scene within three minutes! They immediately called all the roadblocks and reported the theft.During that afternoon we got no less than six or seven telephone calls verifying information and keeping us up to date with the search.The next morning at 08h00 we received a call from a delighted detective proudly informing us that the vehicle had been stopped at the Oshivelo roadblock.Apparently the number plates had already been switched and when asked to pull over at the roadblock, the brigands had gunned it out of there.However our trusty force of dedicated officers gave chase (guns blazing, apparently) with such determination that the scoundrels abandoned the vehicle post haste and ran off into the surrounding bush.(Hopefully this turn of events was as much inconvenient for them as it had been for us – they must have spent at least N$700 in petrol to get so far and were now stranded in the middle of nowhere with the Police after them – poetic justice at its best!) My father and I then went to fetch the vehicle.Unfortunately, due to a misunderstanding, the keys were no longer in the vehicle so we found ourselves 500 km from home at the outpost with a vehicle but no car keys (Don’t ask! Men, I find, NEVER have spare car keys!) Never mind, the intrepid commander at the Oshivelo roadblock immediately offered us the services of the outpost mechanic who proceeded to give us both an on-site demonstration on how best to “hot-wire” a vehicle – it’s not that simple but yes, involved many wires and the ubiquitous screwdriver – the man was brilliant! During this delay, we found the Police officers to be extremely polite, helpful, friendly and well turned out in their neat uniforms.All paperwork and proceedings were well documented and efficiently done.My father then left the Oshivelo roadblock with his “hot-wired” vehicle amidst a crowd of laughing and smiling onlookers milling around the vehicle that had caused all the commotion the day before.Much admiration was given to the awesome new bullet hole lodged squarely behind the driver side of the vehicle – don’t mess with this Police force, I say! We’d sincerely like to thank all the detectives and officers who contributed to the recovery and return of our vehicle – you guys did a great job! My father now continues with his ritual – needless to say, he now has a spare set of car keys and doesn’t leave them on the coffee counter! Fiona Nichol Windhoek