Since its inception, the Law Enforcement Advancement Plan\u2019s (LEAP) aim has been to bolster the police services in the Cape. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last week, the project reached another milestone \u2013 the deployment of 1 100 officers to some of the city\u2019s crime hotspots. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The programme is jointly funded by the Western Cape government and the City of Cape Town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Premier Alan Winde says the officers will further bolster safety in communities in line with the Western Cape government\u2019s Safety Plan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPutting more LEAP officers into our communities as a force multiplier is just one aspect of our plan to arrest crime; and even though we do not have the core mandate, we have come this far with success, and we know we need to go even further. That is why we are taking the next steps toward the devolution of policing powers from the national government to the province. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe plain fact is, under the national government, policing is failing, and we need to urgently change this. The Constitution is on our side in terms of devolution, in fact, the Minister of Police (Bheki Cele) can easily give us the responsibility already if he cared about our residents. We have the zeal and the concern of our residents in mind to dramatically improve law enforcement through devolution,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
An official ceremony was held for officers at the newly established LEAP base in Bishop Lavis on Thursday 11 August. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Law enforcement has more than tripled its arrest rate in recent years due to increased investment, with 50% of these arrests being drug-related. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As of Sunday 31 July, LEAP officers have made 8 500 arrests overall since the first deployment in February 2020. Over 220 guns have been taken off the streets in line with LEAP\u2019s aim of helping the police reduce murders and other violent crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis says besides the LEAP officers programme, the City is investing in more than 230 new law enforcement and Metro Police officers this year, and hundreds of millions of rands in crime fighting tech in the city \u2013 from cameras to drones to gunshot-location technology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhile there are many brave police officers, the police are vastly under-resourced and need our help to start winning the fight against crime. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are steadily asserting our crime prevention role on behalf of everyone who feels the impact of violent crime eating away at their sense of safety and comfort. We all have a constitutional right to safety, freedom of movement and dignity \u2013 and crime quite literally robs us of that,\u201d says Hill-Lewis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All LEAP officers have undergone the required training, including Peace Officer Training, a Traffic Warden Certificate, and training in the City\u2019s by-laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new officers will enforce by-laws and assist enforcement agencies with crime prevention, which will include stop-and-searches, and house searches in conjunction with police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
JP Smith, Mayco member for safety and security, says the LEAP officers are dedicated, well trained and care deeply about the communities they serve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have 100 law enforcement officers here today who represent the bigger cohort of officers who are currently deployed in the City and are removing firearms and drugs from our streets as we speak. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe want to show you who the people are who are out on the streets every day, making a difference to our safety,\u201d says Smith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reagen Allen, MEC for community safety and police oversight, says they are grateful for all their partners, which include police, the City, neighbourhood watches, CPFs, private security and recognised safety structures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf we\u2019re to be more effective in fighting crime, we need to be more organised and have much greater cooperation. My call, therefore, is to unite against crime and work as one towards achieving safer communities,\u201d says Allen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to the LEAP operational base, a CCTV control room will also soon be established to monitor Bishop Lavis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The City has allocated a R5,4 billion Safety Budget in 22\/23, with funding for 230 more officers this year, and R86m for CCTV and new crime-fighting tech in 22\/23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Western Cape government is backing these safety resource investments with a R712m LEAP investment to date.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Since its inception, the Law Enforcement Advancement Plan\u2019s (LEAP) aim has been to bolster the police services in the Cape.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":"","_yoast_wpseo_content_score":"","_yoast_wpseo_inclusive_language_score":"","_yoast_wpseo_is_cornerstone":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image-id":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image-id":"","newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_crsspst_to_novanewscoza":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozabloemnewsexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozadistrictmailhelderberg":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaeikestadnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozahermanustimes":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakomani-karoo":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakougaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozamthathaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozanoordkaapbulletin":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapaarlpost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeoplespost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaswartlandgazette":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozatygerburger":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaudexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavistanews":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavrystaatkroon":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweskusnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweslander":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaworcesterstandard":false,"_EventAllDay":"","_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":"","_EventShowMapLink":"","_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":"","_EventVenueID":"","_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":"","_VenueShowMapLink":"","_application":"","_batch_id":"","_company_name":"","_company_tagline":"","_company_twitter":"","_company_video":"","_company_website":"","_custom_id":"bf052744-eea6-4914-81a8-db323a53875e","_EventDuration":"","_EventOrigin":"","_EventTimezoneAbbr":"","_featured":"","_filled":"","_job_expires":"","_job_location":"","_media_credit":"","_media_credit_url":"","_menu_item_menu_item_parent":"","_menu_item_object":"","_menu_item_object_id":"","_menu_item_target":"","_menu_item_type":"","_menu_item_url":"","_menu_item_xfn":"","_navis_media_can_distribute":"","_navis_media_credit_org":"","_OrganizerOrigin":"","_provider":"","_pum_built_in":"","_pum_default_theme":"","_pum_form_conversion_count":"","_remote_id":"","_remote_name":"","_remote_position":"","_report_frequency":"","_report_reference_dates":"","_send_attempts":"","_site_id":"","_sitemap_exclude":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","_sitemap_priority":"","_source_url":"","_subscription_period":"","_subscription_period_interval":"","_subscription_price":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":"","_template_type":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_tribe_aggregator_allow_multiple_organizers":"","_tribe_aggregator_content_type":"","_tribe_aggregator_file":"","_tribe_aggregator_finalized":"","_tribe_aggregator_hash":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_id":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_interactive":"","_tribe_aggregator_origin":"","_tribe_aggregator_post_status":"","_tribe_aggregator_preview":"","_tribe_aggregator_source_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_type":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_hide_attendees_list":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":"","_tribe_ticket_version":"","_type":"","_VenueOrigin":"","_wp_attachment_context":"","_wp_attachment_image_alt":"","_wp_font_face_file":"","_wp_old_date":"","_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":"","_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":"","_yoast_wpseo_focuskw_text_input":"","_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_block-catalog":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_job_listing_type":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_nova_retailer":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_publication":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_tribe_events_cat":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-duration":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-rating":"","_menu_item_classes":[],"_tribe_modified_fields":[],"_wp_attachment_backup_sizes":[],"_wp_suggested_privacy_policy_content":[],"_yoast_post_redirect_info":[],"_yoast_wpseo_video_meta":[],"activation_date":"","archive_insertion_is_repeating":"","archive_insertion_posts_count":"","article_feature_media":"","article_feature_type":"","article_main_image_caption":"","article_media_icon":"","article_template":"","author_byline":"","background_color":"","block_editor":"","byline":"","cmplz_hide_cookiebanner":"","competition_end_date":"","contact_advertise_email":"","contact_advertise_phone":"","contact_editorial_email":"","contact_general_email":"","contact_general_phone":"","contact_office_hours":"","contact_physical_address":"","enabled":"","featured_image_custom_caption":"","featured_video_url":"","fields":"","font_body":"","font_header":"","frequency":"","headline":"","hide_border":"","icon":"","is_wp_suggestion":"","issuu_download_url":"","issuu_embed_url":"","language_version_url":"","large_border":"","name":"","nm_contact_name":"","nm_contact_number":"","nm_date_lost":"","no_overlay_background":"","node-url":"","obituary_born_date":"","obituary_died_date":"","obituary_memoriam_text":"","origin":"","overlay_color":"","overlay_opacity":"","overlay_size":"","placement":"","plural_label":"","post_author":"","post_id":"","post_language":"en","secret-key":"","sponsored_utm_campaign":"","sponsored_utm_content":"","sponsored_utm_medium":"","sponsored_utm_source":"","sponsored_utm_term":"","start_date":"","utm_suppression":"","video_embed_url":"","wp_pattern_sync_status":"","data_version":[],"enclosure":[],"pongrass_image":[],"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"scaip_prevent_shortcode_addition":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"publication":[],"class_list":["post-45125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n