Cape Town - The City of Cape Town has officially launched its specialised unit of 280 members that will help safeguard facilities and protect front-line staff delivering services in communities.
The unit has 81 Law Enforcement Facility Protection Officers (FPOs), supported by 200 Facility Protection Monitors.
Neighbourhood Watches and Community Policing Forum groups welcomed the specialised unit that will be working closely with them.
The implementation of this unit follows a trail of crimes that have seen contractors and staff employed by the City fearing for their lives while delivering services in communities.
The City said that in the past year, theft and vandalism of infrastructure had doubled, costing almost R60 million, with the rise driven by higher stages of Eskom blackouts.
The staff will be deployed across the metropole, with particular emphasis on identified hot spots based on available intelligence.
Wesbank Neighbourhood Watch member Cornelius Jacobs, who will be part of the 280 unit members, said the implementation will be of great help to communities, especially in areas where facilities were being vandalised.
He applauded the efforts, also saying that the City should have implemented such a force years ago as it would have kept thieves away.
Shana Sabedien, of the Delft Neighbourhood Watch, said: “We have been working with the FPOs for the past two months and already in Delft there’s a difference in crime numbers.
“Currently we are four teams covering all areas, overlooking City buildings and reporting day-to-day crimes.”
Safety and security Mayco member JP Smith said the success of any project was due to a good working relationship with stakeholders, especially in communities, and that is why the FPOs would be expected to liaise regularly with local community structures.
“We have recruited monitors familiar with their specific neighbourhoods, with insights particular to their deployment area gained from participating in a registered Neighbourhood Watch or the previous Walking Bus programme. We have established a list of areas and facilities most under threat, to serve as a starting point,” Smith said.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said: “With this 280 member-strong Facilities Protection Officer initiative we are pushing back against criminal threats to City staff and public facilities.
“The programme has a budget of R112 million over three years, an investment the City hopes to recoup in reduced vandalism and theft of critical infrastructure.
“We are also calling on communities to use our toll-free tip-off line and cash rewards system for information leading to the arrest of those damaging facilities and making extortion threats against front-line services staff.”