Boost for law enforcement agencies
Nie Cele
PIC sourced from news 24.
An ear-piercing siren of cars and motorbikes and dozens of drillers and ululation from the bystanders wasthe order of the day at the Thokoza Park precinct in Rockville, Soweto.
This was during the handing over ceremony of the 875 high performance vehicles and 75 motorbikes to the provinces law enforcement agencies by Gauteng Premier David Makhura.
The Province’s number one citizen told the packed audience that this will go a long way in reducing crime by 50% in priority police stations.
The dispensing ceremony was also attendedby the special school safety committee recently appointed by Premier to deal with sexual violence in schools.
The committee is made up of MEC for Education, PanyazaLesufi, MEC for Community Safety, SizakeleNkosi-Malobane andMEC for Social Development, Nandi Mayathula-Khoza.
Makhura said this was not just in preparation for the festive season but was also to ensure that trio crimes including gender based violence and drug related crimes were priorities and reduced.
“We have identified 12 priority clusters, 40 police stations in the province that contribute 50% of crime statistics nationally. We will focus on these clusters and stations to ensure they cut crime by at least 50%,” said Makhura.
He also highlighted that his administration would put a special focus on crimes against women and children.
“We don’t want rapists in our communities. I want to urge the law enforcement agencies in this province to make life difficult for the criminals,” he said.
Makhura also commended the reintroduction of the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS) as the specialised police unit and arguing that increasing resource allocation to fight crimes against women and children was yielding positive results.
“The FCS is one of the major success stories because of the high rate of arrests and successful prosecution of perpetrators.
“This initiative to increase police resources will allow the police officers to perform their job better. Perpetrators must be caught and brought to book,” said Premier.
MEC for Community Safety, SizakeleNkosi-Malobane told the packed ceremony that reducing crime in the province by 50% looks far fetched.
“But its a mission possible. Criminals you are in trouble. Criminal’s vehicles must never overtake police vehicles,” she said.
Provincial Police Commissioner, Deliwe De Lange noted that there was no excuse for the police now with the additional resources.
She also revealed that, police was deploying adequately trained officers to handle gender-based violence.
De Lange also warned that these vehicles are not meant for the use of attending meetings by the police’s top bras.
Did you know?
- The law enforcement agencies that benefited from these high powered vehicles included SAPS, JMPD, EMPD and the Gauteng Traffic department.
- These high speed vehicles are fitted with high tech equipment, cameras that can detect stolen cars, fake number plates, un-roadworthy vehicles and expired invalid licence discs.
