The City of Cape Town today celebrated the graduation parade of over 700 new City police officers who will, in the coming weeks, begin their deployment across the city.
This new deployment includes dedicated neighbourhood policing for every ward, a historic first.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis joined new Metro Police officers at their graduation parade at Athlone Stadium on Tuesday, 9 September, together with JP Smith, Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security.
The City’s new deployment is the largest investment in new boots on the ground in over a decade.
It will include neighbourhood policing for every ward (five members per team, including a sergeant), a dedicated unit for the N2/Airport precinct, and more protection escorts for frontline service delivery teams in crime hotspots.
“As a City making major investments in policing resources, we are sending a clear message today to our partners in SAPS and national government: we are here to help make Cape Town safer. These new officers are set to make a big impact in every ward, along the N2, and in communities protecting our frontline staff.
While City police already have the powers to search, arrest and prevent crime, the time has come for more policing powers – specifically to investigate crime and build dockets – so that we can ensure the 400 guns we take off the streets annually lead to actual convictions and removal of criminals from the streets of long-suffering communities. Right now, our broken criminal justice system secures convictions in just 5% of these cases, but we know this can dramatically improve once we get more policing powers for our officers.”
Hill-Lewis says he will meet with Acting National Police Minister Firoz Cachalia on Thursday to set out the case for the City and SAPS working hand-in-hand to gain more convictions, especially in the fight against gang, gun, and drug crime.
New Metro Police recruits completed an 18-month learnership programme, which included:
- Traffic Officer course (12 months)
- Metro Police officer training, which included firearm competency training (three months).
- Specialised training which included Neighbourhood Safety Officer training, evidence-based policing.
- Additional Tactical training, EPIC training
- This group of cadets also received Civic Academy training
This group of over 700 new Metro police officers is over and above the 1,200 officers deployed to major crime hotspots via the LEAP initiative in partnership with the Western Cape Government.
