Durban - After 40 years of chasing crooks and upholding law and order, Senior Superintendent Eddie Von Bargen will be hanging up his hat and cuffs and saying goodbye to his days as a Metro Police Officer.
Eddie von Bargen joined the Durban City Police on March 24,1980, as a new recruit.
From humble beginnings on foot patrol, he worked his way up in the force, working in various sections, and proving to be an invaluable asset.
He has received numerous commendations for his service. From locating murder and robbery suspects, to being an advisor to the provincial taxi task team on new taxi regulations, from training to captaining the Metro Police shooting team, von Bargen excelled at his job.
Von Bargen’s illustrious career included drug busts, working with international agencies to conquer organised crime syndicates, investigating child prostitution, large scale motor vehicle theft and curbing crime on the beachfront.
His 40-year career has been dotted with many highlights.
"It was a very interesting career but being accepted into the Durban City Police 40 years ago, training new members, being involved in investigating one of the first racketeering cases in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act legislation in this country, which led to working with policemen in other countries and being invited to assist in the investigation in London and Brussels certainly stand out in my career," he lamented.
The case mentioned above relates to a time in October 2003 when then Inspector von Bargen assisted the Scorpions with a national registered project involving Chinese syndicates.
He contacted a drug mule, who was smuggling drugs to the UK. After successfully registering the mule as an informer, a sting operation was launched. This operation took months to complete and the main suspect was arrested after delivering a consignment of drugs to an undercover Metro Police member. This was only the second racketeering case in the country at the time.
After the arrest von Bargen travelled with a team from the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions to the UK and Belgium with the investigation team to collect evidence for the completion of the case.
“Being Officer Commanding of the beachfront was also very motivating. The support I received from other municipal departments was awesome!”
Helping people in need, and the thank afterwards is most rewarding and inspired him to continue with his great work.
His advice to those starting out in the policing field is that Policing is not a job, it is a way of life.
“You need to understand that people look up at you and follow your behaviour, you need to want to help others, you need to be honest, always, with others and yourself! The more effort you put in the better the rewards are.”
In future, Von Bargen and his wife are planning to settle in the Eastern Cape where they can enjoy hiking in the great outdoors and travelling.
All the best in your retirement Senior Supt Eddie von Bargen.