Gauteng police, business leaders join forces to counter crime

Gauteng Police Commissioner lieutenant-general Elias Mawela. Picture: Jacques Naude/African News Agency/ANA

Gauteng Police Commissioner lieutenant-general Elias Mawela. Picture: Jacques Naude/African News Agency/ANA

Published Jan 21, 2021

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Pretoria - Gauteng police are joining up with Business Against Crime South Africa (BACSA) to utilise expertise, information, processes and technologies within the business community towards enhancing crime fighting initiatives.

Gauteng police commissioner lieutenant-general Elias Mawela held a meeting with BACSA which assessed the milestones reached towards establishing a state-of-the-art integrated command centre which will co-ordinate the joint effort, South African Police Service (SAPS) provincial spokeswoman Brigadier Mathapelo Peters said.

To this end, SAPS, BACSA and the private security industry were involved in the Eyes and Ears Initiative, a crime fighting project premised on a streamlined information sharing model, she said.

Through the initiative, the private security industry augments SAPS’ situational awareness through its geographic footprint, boosting responsiveness to crime hotspots as well as violent crime.

“Mawela emphasised the importance of creating a comprehensive risk profile of the project to ensure that identified obstacles that have previously stalled the project take-off, are mitigated,” said Peters.

During the meeting, Mawela lauded BACSA for its constructive criticism towards police crime fighting efforts.

“The level of honesty and the openness of this engagement ... is what we need to keep us on our toes. We as the law enforcement cannot afford to be complacent. We will go back and work hard to improve on those areas that have been highlighted,” Mawela said.

Speaking for BACSA, national project manager Fouché Burgers recommended that the scope of the venture be extended to include capacity building towards a security-conscious police service and citizenry.

African News Agency (ANA)

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