July 14, 2006
By Tammy O'Reilly
THE Johannesburg Metro Police Department will intensify all aspects of policing over the next six months to reduce levels of crime in the city.
On 12 July, the MEC for community safety, Firoz Cachalia, unveiled a new safety strategy which instructs the South African Police Service, the various Metro police units, and communities to work hand in hand to crack down on worrying levels of crime in the province.
Some of aspects of the safety plan are to increase the number and frequency of roadblocks, training police officers to improve response time to specific crimes, improving safety on trains, and reducing the number of cash-in-transit heists and residential and business robberies.
"We are very very serious and committed to this strategy," says Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) spokesperson Edna Mamonyane.
"To show just how serious we are within 24 hours of the launch of the safety strategy the JMPD have already arrested people who were in possession of large amounts of drugs and money."
She added that raids were carried out at the Madala and Nobuhle Hostels in Alexandra at 2am on Wednesday, 13 July, where four people were arrested for the possession of illegal firearms and seven others arrested for the possession of dagga.
"We are not only going to be concentrating on people who commit robberies and murders; we are concentrating on every aspect of by-law and traffic enforcement."
There are about 1 900 officers in the JMPD, every one of whom has received practical training in traffic control, pursuit of suspects and firearm skills as well as the ins and outs of the National Road Traffic Act and by-laws of the City of Johannesburg.
Mamonyane said the JMPD operations would continue even after the six months have lapsed to ensure the city is safe for the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
"It is important to acknowledge that we all have a role to play to reduce crime in our province. No matter where we live or what our backgrounds are, criminals are our common enemy. We cannot allow those who harm our communities to get away with impunity. They are a minority and can be stopped," said Cachalia in a statement.
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