Cape Town – The City of Cape Town’s Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (Leap) proves to be successful as officers managed to make over 500 arrests from August 1–21.
According to Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC Reagan Allen, officers arrested 515 people, searched 47 480 and conducted 3 316 patrols in hotspot areas during this time.
Suspects were detained for the possession of illegal firearms, ammunition, imitation firearms, drugs, and dangerous weapons.
The teams also conducted 433 operations with other City of Cape Town law enforcement agencies and the SAPS.
“By removing and confiscating these items, Leap is ensuring that there are fewer causes of murder. Leap is stepping up a lot more in their operations and functions, as national government continues to fail SAPS officers on the ground.
“SAPS officers are constantly expressing their gratitude for Leap, as it’s helping them to be more visible and effective in their crime-fighting efforts.
“As a caring government, we want to ensure our residents live in safer environments and with dignity,” Allen said.
The Leap was established in September 2019 as part of the Western Cape government’s safety plan.
The plan is the brainchild of Premier Alan Winde to address the high murder rate in the province.
The local government aims to reduce the murder rate by 50% by 2029.
Leap officers are deployed in crime hotspots. These include the top 10 murder areas in the province such as:
Delft, Gugulethu, Harare, Khayelitsha (Site B policing precinct), Kraaifontein, Mfuleni, Mitchells Plain, Nyanga, Philippi East, and Samora Machel. Other high crime areas in which they are deployed are Atlantis, Bishop Lavis, Hanover Park, Lavender Hill, Steenberg, and Grassy Park.
The Western Cape government said its safety dashboard provided real-time data to provincial stakeholders and helped to identify where Leap officers were most needed.
The dashboard was updated every third day and was being automated to provide daily updates, it said.
The dashboard helped officials anticipate where new hotspots might appear so that resources could be deployed to the affected areas to prevent crime.
“Leap is operational proof why SAPS should immediately be devolved to a capable province and government such as ours.
“In fact, the 8.2% reduction in the murder rate for the first quarter of the 2022/23 financial year at SAPS stations where Leap is deployed strengthens this.
“Our governance record at our schools, hospitals and so many other facilities under the governance of the Western Cape, speaks for itself.
“Under us, SAPS will once again become a service that residents trust wholeheartedly,” Allen said.
He added that Leap officers would never be able to combat crime on their own and besides working with the SAPS and other law enforcement agencies, the eyes and ears of residents in communities were vital.