October 26, 2004
By Thomas Thale
FOR the next 500 days, members of the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) will be out in force, apprehending fugitives, confiscating illegal firearms, closing illegal taverns, impounding unroadworthy vehicles and removing hawkers trading from restricted areas.
This is in terms of the new Operation Token Days launched on Wednesday. The operation will see JMPD members, armed with advanced technological devices, working with members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) and other agencies to combat crime in targeted areas.
The hotspots identified for attention are Hillbrow, the CBD, Newtown, Diepsloot, Alexandra, Moroka and Orange Farm.
Amos Masondo, executive mayor of the City, said the operation was part of the City's broader Safety Strategy. "This operation will be additional work over and above visible policing, traffic and by-law enforcement," Masondo said.
Adopted by the council in August, the Safety Strategy brings together various agencies in operations to combat crime.
Nazira Cachalia, programme manager for safety and security in the City's Economic Development Unit, said the strategy adopted a geographic focus area approach to combating crime.
"We will have defined areas of focus based on consolidating crime reduction in a small number of target areas and gradually widening the boundaries of each area, particularly along arterial routes until the geographic areas overlap," Cachalia said.
Cachalia said the priority crimes had been identified as "those which are believed to have the most significant impact on business confidence and investment decision-making, and the tourism market".
The crimes to be targeted include serious violent interpersonal crimes, serious violent property crimes, fraud and corruption, crimes affecting tourists, crime and grime plus hijacking and theft of freight and cargo.
Derek Masoek, director of operations for the JMPD, said that while all metro police officers would take part in the operations, so far only 132 JMPD officers had been deployed at various police stations across the city on a 16-week course to gain hands-on experience of police work.
"They will be taught processes such as effecting arrests, locking up people and presenting cases before court," said Masoek.
Masoek said the main focus of Operation Token Days would be to:
- Make night life safe for both residents and tourists. This would include strict policing of illegal alcohol sales and abuse, which had been found to be responsible for over 70% of violent crime.
- Use advanced electronic policing technology such as speed cameras, robot cameras and CCTV cameras to gather and disseminate information speedily.
- Police all by-law infringements and obstructions of pavements.
- Man joint roadblocks with the SAPS and patrolling public transport nodes, including train stations.
- Confiscate illegal firearms in conjunction with the SAPS.
A critical component of Operation Token Days, said Masoek, would be to stamp out corruption and improve efficiencies within the JMPD.
Masoek said the JMPD, which collected over R300-million in the last three years in fines, would improve the way it handled cash transactions.
He said all licensing and testing stations would come under the spotlight with the "implementation of a computer forensic audit capability for all transactions conducted through Natis and Cypress systems". The JMPD would step up efforts to detect fraudulent documentation and take legal action against the culprits.
The JMPD would also mount operations to remove illegal and unroadworthy taxis from the roads.
Masondo said combating crime was part of the city's efforts to stimulate the economy as envisaged in the Joburg 2030 plan. "The fight against crime is a critical component in our overall effort to realize this long term plan," Masondo said.
Permission to use web site material
Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as:
- Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website
(www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency
(www.joburg.org.za)";
- If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original
article on this website;
- The name of the article's author is acknowledged;
-
The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill
in this brief online form).
Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 |
