Cape Town’s CCTV network recorded a significant increase in incidents across the City for three consecutive quarters.
Also read: City of Cape Town CCTV detection up 108% over past year
Between April and June 2023, the Metro Police Strategic Surveillance Unit (SSU) detected 7 339 incidents, including crime, vandalism, motor vehicle accidents, fires and other miscellaneous incidents.
Between July and September 2023, a total of 8 284 incidents were detected, resulting in 113 arrests out of 4 836 crime-related incidents.
Between October and December 2023, 8 983 incidents were recorded, resulting in 94 arrests out of 5 354 crime-related incidents.
The SSU also recorded 111 instances between July and December 2023, which were requested for review by the South African Police Service as part of their investigations.
This translates into a 90% increase in detections compared to the same period in 2022.
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Alderman JP Smith, the City’s mayoral committee member for safety and security, says the reasons for the increase in detections vary from an increased camera footprint to a more consistent uptime of the camera network.
‘In the last year, we have also amended our standard operating procedure, where the unit nearest to the incident detected will respond, irrespective of enforcement service. This has been facilitated through our Emergency Policing Incident Control (EPIC) system.’
‘This is very good momentum, and to make sure that we build on that, a workshop will take place this month to review our CCTV operations in terms of facilities, infrastructure, staffing and possible further expansion.’
Last year, cameras valued at R4.2 million were installed at various points along Baden Powell Drive. The SSU currently has 39 CCTV projects underway, including new installations, the acquisition of additional equipment, replacing and upgrading existing infrastructure, and converting from old rented fibre networks to City-owned networks.
A total of 10 cameras are currently live at six locations.
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Picture: City of Cape Town / Facebook