Mediation Effort Launched to Prevent Violence After Shooting

A team from the Leadership Intervention Unit has been deployed to ease tension in the Caesar Ridge and Kraal Road area after the New Year’s Eve shooting death of Ian Arthurs.  Police remain on high alert, stepping up patrols as they work to prevent any retaliatory violence. Specialized units have also been deployed, all with one goal, making sure tensions don’t escalate further. One of those teams is the Leadership Intervention Unit. Instead of making arrests, the unit focuses on mediation and conflict resolution, stepping in early to calm situations before they turn violent. Acting Director Andrew Dawson says his team is already out in communities where emotions are running high, meeting with residents and key influencers, using dialogue and early action to help keep the peace.

 

Andrew Dawson, Acting Director, Leadership Intervention Unit

“We try to put our mediation tactics to play and we try to support the police as they do their suppression tactics. We interview the respective person within these communities and see how we can create some type of conversation where we can deescalate the situation as they arise.”

 

 Shane Williams

“What all does it entail?”

 

Andrew Dawson

“Essentially it entails what we call conflict racing. We have received information that there’s a height intention within the area. We would visit the different persons within the community, see whatever information we can collect and see how we can have some type of dialogue or engage in some type of dialogue to deescalate, as I said, the flare up in violence within the community.”

 

Shane Williams

“How difficult is this, knowing that at any given time there could be a flare up in any community?”

 

Andrew Dawson

“It’s very challenging. It’s very difficult because what we do isn’t something that is very popular. It’s always said that, oh unu the negotiate with the criminal, with the gangsters. But at the end of the day, we have to understand that these persons are faced with various social issues. And we see how we can bridge the gap with some of these issues that are long-term issues. That. Basically we see the product of these issues within these communities when these violent incidents occur. So we try our best to work with not only the community members, with other partners and so forth, to see how we can bring a calm to the streets and to these various communities.”