None of the 500 auxiliary law enforcement officers deployed to crime hot spots across the City earlier this month has ended up in Goodwood, and civic leader Faizel Petersen wants to know why.
Mr Petersen, the chairman of the Goodwood Residents’ and Ratepayers’ Association, says mayor Dan Plato told the group in June last year there would be a law-enforcement officer posted in every ward by December.
The Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) was launched in September and is part of the Mayoral Urban Regeneration Programme (MURP).Â
The aim is to improve safety and quality of life in strategic geographic areas. Leap is jointly funded by the City of Cape Town and provincial government in line with the Western Cape safety plan.
Mayco member for safety and security JP Smith sent the newly recruited officers onto the streets on Thursday February 14.Â
He said they had undergone the required training in the use of firearms, handling of dockets and statements, traffic law, tactical street survival and the City by-laws. Training is ongoing.
The officers would patrol and observe, and report incidents of anti-social behaviour to the Metro police, he said.
The City’s executive director for head of safety and security, Richard Bosman, said the deployment had followed operational needs, crime-statistics analyses and the availability of funds.
In the Western Cape, 10 areas accounted for nearly 50% half of all the province’s murders and the officers were being deployed into areas such as Delft, Khayelitsha, Philippi and Hanover Park, said Mr Bosman.
Mr Smith said a further 500 officers would be appointed by Wednesday July 1.Â
Community safety MEC Albert Fritz said 3 000 officers should be deployed in the city’s 10 top crime hot spots over the next decade.
The officers signed contracts with the City at the end of January and will be contracted until June 2023.