1 000 more cops to cut down Cape crime
Hundreds of newly qualified police officers have been deployed to high-crime stations in the Western Cape.
|||Cape Town - Hundreds of newly qualified police officers in the Western Cape have been deployed to high-crime stations in an effort to turn the situation around.
Provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Khombinkosi Jula briefed the media on Sunday in response to the crime statistics that revealed the Western Cape to be home to seven of the country’s worst 10 murder hot spots.
These were Nyanga, Gugulethu, Harare, Khayelitsha, Delft, Kraaifontein and Mfuleni.
Next year’s crime numbers would tell a different story, he said.
More than 1 000 newly-qualified constables had been placed in stations around the province last month and the extra officers were already translating into more arrests and fewer crimes.
“Already it is encouraging to see that from June up until now, we have started seeing huge reductions in stations where we have deployed these members.
“We will present a picture that is totally different from the picture presented for 2015/16.”
The statistics say just 30 stations out of the 150 in the Western Cape contributed to more than half the province’s reported crime.
Jula said 790 of the newly-deployed officers had been sent to these 30 stations, with a further 350 sent to the remaining stations in the province.
He said Nyanga, Gugulethu and Harare stations each had 41 new officers, Khayelitsha 37, Kraaifontein 47, Mfuleni 33 and Delft 18.
“I have prioritised these stations. I assure you that with the additional resources we have channelled to these stations, we will turn the situation around, especially in Nyanga, which already has the stigma that it’s a murder station.
“I am saying this with confidence because it is already happening.”
Nyanga station commander Brigadier Vuyisile Ncata confirmed he was feeling the benefits of the 41 new officers under his command.
“More members equals more visibility so the pressure is very high against the criminal elements.
“We manage to cover areas that in the past did not receive attention.”
The extra officers have helped lend police support to street committees of Nyanga residents who do neighbourhood patrols in an effort to make their area safer.
Ncata said: “The impact is helpful. In the past months we have decreased our crime in all categories, including murders and attempted murders, house robberies and business robberies,” he said.
The recruits have graduated from police colleges, done field training and have now been freshly promoted to the rank of constable.
Ncata said he was pairing the new officers with seasoned professionals to bring them up to speed in their first deployment in the country’s murder capital.
chelsea.geach@inl.co.za
Cape Argus