Since 2016, the City of Cape Town’s Emergency Police Incident Control (EPIC) system has handled more than 2,8 million incidents and activities, said JP Smith, Mayco member for Safety and Security.
The EPIC System was discussed at the City’s Sub-council 7 meeting recently, when the system’s function, its operations and successes to date were relayed to ward councillors.
EPIC is the City’s central system for managing public safety, Smith pointed out.
“Think of it as a digital control room that connects emergency calls, officers, vehicles, and cameras into one platform.
“Every day it helps coordinate around 6 000 staff, members and more than 3 000 vehicles, sending resources to incidents more than 400 000 times a year.”
When someone reports an emergency EPIC records the incident, finds the nearest available officers or vehicles and sends them to the scene. Command centres can see everything happening live, where vehicles are, which officers are responding and how incidents are progressing.
EPIC supports serious emergencies like assaults and crashes, but also everyday service requests such as noise complaints or bylaw issues, Smith explained. “It also manages planned operations like patrols, roadblocks and special events.”
The system works alongside body cameras, dash cams, drones, number plate recognition and CCTV. “This gives operators a clear picture of what is happening on the ground and provides evidence for investigations,” Smith said.
He explained that behind the scenes EPIC analyses all this information to spot crime patterns and improve future developments. “This helps the City use its resources smarter and respond faster, making communities safer through technology-driven policing.”
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