Public Safety as a priority

036From the 1st day of operations the public safety team deployed in the area. The team consists of two public safety officers that patrol the area in the day and a patrol vehicle with an armed response officer patrolling the area at night. The team is supported on a regular basis by the Public Safety Coordinator for the area. The main aim of the public safety initiative is to reduce the potential for criminal activities in the public space of the GCID by limiting the opportunities for crime to take place. This includes proactive visible patrols throughout the area, constant engagement with members of the public, acting as the eye and ears of the local SAPS and other law enforcement agencies from the City of Cape Town and acting on any situation that may require intervention to stop a potential criminal act.

 

001 (5)The GCID has made a significant impact on the levels of criminal and anti-social behaviour in the area and has taken an active role in crime prevention activities with the local SAPS. The frequent activities of bin-scratching have been addressed and no shopping trollies of wheelie bins are allowed to move through the area. The public safety officers have assisted the SAPS in a number of arrests involving criminals using these items to cart stolen property out of the area. Wheelie bins are returned to their rightful owners as far as possible and shopping trollies are returned to the respective retailers or the trolley management companies that represent them.

The GCID management also interacts with the other public safety and security entities in the area and work closely with them to ensure the best level of public safety in the area. The GCID management attends a joint public safety and security meeting with the local SAPS, Community Police Forum, Neighbourhood Watch and Kenilworth Centre Security every Monday where problems and issues are discussed, plans and information exchanged and new activities identified. This helps to prevent certain criminal activities from taking place in the GCID.

The GCID has also actively engaged with the schools around the GCID. Many school children commute through the GCID and sadly some of them even engage in criminal activity such as the purchasing and using of illegal substances. The GCIS take positive actions to assist learners especially in the early mornings and afternoons when then await busses and taxis or walk through the area.