Cape Town - Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (Leap) officers, deployed by the provincial government and the City in hotspot areas, assisted in the arrests of 147 people between August 29 and September 4 alone.
Western Cape Community Safety and Policing Oversight MEC Reagen Allen said this was possible through joint and integrated operations with other City law enforcement agencies and the police.
“Of the 147 persons who were arrested, one was for the possession of an illegal firearm, three for the possession of illegal ammunition, one for the possession of an imitation firearm, 112 for the possession of drugs, and nine for the possession of dangerous weapons,” he said.
In addition, during the same period, they searched 6 612 people, searched 244 houses, conducted 6 612 patrols in hotspot areas, conducted 186 roadblocks, and searched 665 vehicles.
Allen said these officers were deployed in a strategic, data-led and evidence-based manner to crime-ridden areas, as well as the top 10 murder areas in the province which, among others, included Delft, Gugulethu, Harare, Kraaifontein, Mfuleni, Mitchells Plain and Nyanga.
Kraaifontein Community Policing Forum chairperson Rob Bisset said: “Leap is doing a great job in Kraaifontein. They are a big help to us in the community and to police members. They have made a significant impact to the numbers.”
Bisset said the Forum had developed a good working relationship with Leap and this could be replicated across the Western Cape to address the increasing crime in local communities.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said the recent first-quarter crime statistics for this year showed that although murder rates continued to climb at national level, there was a steady decrease in this crime category where Leap officers were deployed.
Leap was initiated in September 2019 through Premier Alan Winde’s Safety Plan. The primary goal was to reduce the murder rate by 50% by 2029.
Allen said the Western Cape government wanted to manage SAPS in the same manner, and this was why it continued to call for the police to be devolved.