timo
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"City and police to gang up against criminals
July 8, 2004
By Thomas Thale
JOHANNESBURG is set to unveil a new, comprehensive strategy for combating crime - a bold move to make the city more attractive to investors and tourists.
The strategy will unite various organs of state in fighting crime together.
The crime-fighting plan will bring together the South African Police Service (SAPS), the provincial department of safety and security, the Central Joburg Partnership, various City departments and entities and, of course, the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD).
The bodies are to set up a multi-agency steering committee that will develop an implementation plan and process, says Nazira Cachalia, the programme manager for safety and security in the Economic Development Unit.
Derrick Masoek, the JMPD director of operations, says the new strategy will change the way the JMPD carries out its operations. "It will change the way we do business, not just for the JMPD but for other agencies as well."
The new strategy will enhance the JMPD's role in efforts to combat crime, says Masoek. "We will play one of the key roles to ensure safety and security in the city. For instance, the way the JMPD deploys its personnel along key arterial roads will inform the new approach."
Cachalia says the new plan, which is to be tabled in the next sitting of the council, is based on the Joburg 2030 strategy, which says: "If you want to create a conducive environment to attract investment in the city, we must address crime and skills shortage."
Council departments, utilities, agencies and corporatised entities will also joint in.
The idea is to make them think of crime prevention as part of their core business, says Cachalia. "In cleaning up the city for instance, Pikitup contributes to perceptions of a safer city."
Speaking to the media recently Parks Tau, the councillor responsible for finance, let slip that the Metro Police might share resources with the SAPS in combating crime.
"It is not unthinkable that you might see a Metro Police member patrolling with two SAPS members inside a Metro Police vehicle. Such a scenario would really benefit the city because SAPS members have powers to execute arrests and investigate crime."
What is unique about the new strategy, says Cachalia, is that "for the first time, the City is looking at a multi-agency implementation plan".
Cachalia says the strategy was informed by a survey of crime victims conducted last year.
"We worked closely with the SAPS to gather information on crime patterns in the city. We now have a clearer understanding of the kind of intervention needed."
Cachalia says the survey revealed how residents felt about and understood crime trends. According to Cachalia, the survey identified a close correlation between perceptions and the reality of crime.
"Though not always factual, perceptions of crime are often based on experience and on anecdotes," says Cachalia.
She says violence is a distinct feature of crime in Johannesburg.
"The violence that accompanies even petty crime in the city instils fear. Criminals just don't hesitate to shoot. People become reluctant to go out to certain parts of the city at night and only frequent safe environments like shopping malls."
Cachalia says closed-circuit TV cameras have helped to deter criminals, but cannot eradicate the scourge. "CCTV is a deterrent, but criminals get used to it and adapt their methods. They devise ways to circumvent cameras."
But she is cautiously optimistic that crime is under control.
"Although crime in the city has stabilised, it remains at unacceptably high levels," says Cachalia."
Source: www.joburg.gov.za
"City and police to gang up against criminals
July 8, 2004
By Thomas Thale
JOHANNESBURG is set to unveil a new, comprehensive strategy for combating crime - a bold move to make the city more attractive to investors and tourists.
The strategy will unite various organs of state in fighting crime together.
The crime-fighting plan will bring together the South African Police Service (SAPS), the provincial department of safety and security, the Central Joburg Partnership, various City departments and entities and, of course, the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD).
The bodies are to set up a multi-agency steering committee that will develop an implementation plan and process, says Nazira Cachalia, the programme manager for safety and security in the Economic Development Unit.
Derrick Masoek, the JMPD director of operations, says the new strategy will change the way the JMPD carries out its operations. "It will change the way we do business, not just for the JMPD but for other agencies as well."
The new strategy will enhance the JMPD's role in efforts to combat crime, says Masoek. "We will play one of the key roles to ensure safety and security in the city. For instance, the way the JMPD deploys its personnel along key arterial roads will inform the new approach."
Cachalia says the new plan, which is to be tabled in the next sitting of the council, is based on the Joburg 2030 strategy, which says: "If you want to create a conducive environment to attract investment in the city, we must address crime and skills shortage."
Council departments, utilities, agencies and corporatised entities will also joint in.
The idea is to make them think of crime prevention as part of their core business, says Cachalia. "In cleaning up the city for instance, Pikitup contributes to perceptions of a safer city."
Speaking to the media recently Parks Tau, the councillor responsible for finance, let slip that the Metro Police might share resources with the SAPS in combating crime.
"It is not unthinkable that you might see a Metro Police member patrolling with two SAPS members inside a Metro Police vehicle. Such a scenario would really benefit the city because SAPS members have powers to execute arrests and investigate crime."
What is unique about the new strategy, says Cachalia, is that "for the first time, the City is looking at a multi-agency implementation plan".
Cachalia says the strategy was informed by a survey of crime victims conducted last year.
"We worked closely with the SAPS to gather information on crime patterns in the city. We now have a clearer understanding of the kind of intervention needed."
Cachalia says the survey revealed how residents felt about and understood crime trends. According to Cachalia, the survey identified a close correlation between perceptions and the reality of crime.
"Though not always factual, perceptions of crime are often based on experience and on anecdotes," says Cachalia.
She says violence is a distinct feature of crime in Johannesburg.
"The violence that accompanies even petty crime in the city instils fear. Criminals just don't hesitate to shoot. People become reluctant to go out to certain parts of the city at night and only frequent safe environments like shopping malls."
Cachalia says closed-circuit TV cameras have helped to deter criminals, but cannot eradicate the scourge. "CCTV is a deterrent, but criminals get used to it and adapt their methods. They devise ways to circumvent cameras."
But she is cautiously optimistic that crime is under control.
"Although crime in the city has stabilised, it remains at unacceptably high levels," says Cachalia."
Source: www.joburg.gov.za