Obslife, Feb 2011

THE dramatic assault on a security guard by participants in a drug deal was a stark reminder of how the OBSID's public-safety officers risk life and limb to keep Observatory safe.
Hudson Sobetwa, 31-year-old publicsafety patroller who had been working for the OBSID since its inception in 2009, sustained extremely serious head injuries when the participants in a drug deal that he interrupted in Lower Main Road struck him twice with their car.
Hudson woke up in Groote Schuur Hospital with a fractured skull and more than fifty stitches to his head. He said early one evening just after Christmas he was patrolling near the corner of Darien Lane and Lower Main Road when he noticed what looked like a drug deal between two occupants of a car and a man at the side of the road.

He came up behind the car and saw a parcel of drugs being handled. When Hudson reached for his radio, the men realised he was a security guard.
The driver reversed the car in order to knock Hudson down with the passenger-side front door. With no time to jump aside, Hudson grabbed hold of the door and lifted his feet into the car. The driver sped forward and Hudson was pushed out onto the road. Again the car reversed, hitting Hudson with the open door. He tried to crawl to the pavement, but was hit again, and he lost conciousness.
A colleague who was patrolling some distance away noticed the commotion. By the time he reached the bleeding and unconcious Hudson, the car had sped away.
Hudson, who is booked off till 1 February, says he is eager to get back onto the street. Next time he'll call for back-up before interrupting a drug deal. Helping the police to suppress the rampant drug trade in Observatory is an important part of the OBSID public safety patrollers' job, believes Hudson, because so many of the assaults, burglaries and theft are perpetrated by drug addicts wanting quick money to buy their next fix.
--------
Wasief Alexander, the OBSID's public-safety control room operator, won the quarterly prize for the best public safety officer. Alexander co-ordinates the patrols by the public safety guards throughout Observatory via radio from the control room at the Obs station. He gained an intimate knowledge of Observatory by patrolling the streets as a guard since the OBSID's public safety patrols first started. This, and his love for his job, is what makes him good at what he does. Public service has always been his passion, he says, and no day on the job is the same. His most satisfying moment was helping to catch three car thieves in Milton Road in May last year.