We have all seen them around Cape Town.
The Metro Police officer, the Law Enforcement officer and the Traffic Services officer.
Dressed in their various uniforms and while driving their various types of vehicles, they go around town conducting their various duties. In some cases, this is causing much confusion among the public about who does what, who is responsible for dealing with what issues and who should be taking action.
In this week’s edition if Municipal Matters, TygerBurger chats to the City’s Mayco member for safety and security, JP Smith.
Smith says the safety and security directorate consists of six main departments, namely: Metro Police, Traffic Services, Law Enforcement, the Public Emergency Communication Centre (PECC) 107, Disaster Risk Management and Fire and Rescue Services. There are also additional entities like the Special Investigations Unit and Internal investigations and the Neighbourhood Watch Support Unit.
In the Metro Police department there are 554 operational staff members and Smith says these officers attend to an average of 350 complaints as they mainly act on proactive policing of hotspots and crime threats identified by the South African Police Service (Saps) and communities.
The Law Enforcement department has 465 Law Enforcement officers, 186 learner Law Enforcement officers and 279 volunteers. Smith says they handle more than 5 000 complaints each month, but this figure fluctuates.
The City also has 379 traffic officers, 18 traffic wardens and 46 traffic inspectors. “Between January and May 2016, 8 557 complaints were received – an average of just over 1 700 a month. In addition, the department receives hundreds of other complaints via email and Whats-App that will not reflect on the control room statistics.”
Smith agrees that the role of each of these officers is often confused.
“Some do not know the difference between Saps and the City’s enforcement agencies and often confuse the roles. Saps is the primary agency responsible for crime prevention. The City’s Metro Police support the Saps but also do autonomous operations.”
In addition, he says they have also noted that many confuse the departmental identity of officers.
“They will call a Metro Police officer a traffic officer or vice versa. The reason for this confusion is perhaps the public being unclear as to the role of each department. A close match in terms of branding colours between the Metro Police and Law Enforcement and the uniforms of Traffic Services and Law Enforcement may contribute to this confusion.”
Q. What is the primary role of a Metro Police officer?
A. The department’s mandate includes securing municipal property, municipal bylaw enforcement, traffic control and crime prevention.
Q. What can a Metro Police officer not do?
A. The mandate does not extend to conducting criminal investigations or detaining suspects – these functions are the responsibility of the South African Police Service.
Q. When should I call Metro Police?
A. Any traffic-related incident, bylaw contravention, domestic or public violence or any other crime-related incident.
Q. What is the primary role of a Law Enforcement officer?
A. A Law Enforcement officer’s core function is to enforce municipal bylaws and regulations and to ensure the general safety of the public whether on beaches, public places and public roads, among others. They also deal with standard-of-living complaints. Law Enforcement officers are peace officers and their powers are set out and gazetted as per the relevant section in the Criminal Procedure Act. They can arrest, issue notices and search and seize in terms of those powers. They can also arrest perpetrators for contravening all Schedule 1 offences. They are also appointed as traffic wardens and many of them are appointed fisheries control officers.
Q. What can a Law Enforcement officer not do?
Law Enforcement officers cannot do investigations relating to crimes such as robbery and certain driving offences not covered by the Traffic Bylaw such as driving under the influence of liquor (National Road Traffic Act) or other offences not listed in their schedule of powers such as domestic violence and Second-hand Goods Act contraventions.
Q. How many units are there within the Law Enforcement department?
A. There are four area sections and 16 specialised units.
Q. What is the reason for all these units?
A. The specialised units were created to provide maximum response and prosecution efficiency in various situations. It is an innovative way to respond to the safety needs of our residents. Crime trends have been identified and the various units created with members specifically trained to deal with specific threats.
Q. What is the primary role of a Traffic Services officer?
A. The Traffic Services Department is committed to improving road safety by providing effective driving licence services and traffic enforcement. They are responsible for enforcing the City’s traffic laws and clamping down on offences such as speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol, and driving recklessly.
Q. How many different units are there in this department?
A. It consists of the Operations section, Licensing and Prosecutions (Lipro) section and the support services branch.
Q. What is the role of the Ghost Squad?
A. The Ghost Squad was established to “create an illusion of an omnipresence”. Due to the shortage of officers in and around the city area, the City is trying to create the impression that at any time a motorist must think that the vehicle next to them or behind them could possibly be a Ghost Squad officer and therefore it would discourage motorists from attempting or executing bad driver behaviour. Its core function is to concentrate on serious moving violations which could lead to fatal crashes or crashes involving serious injuries to the parties involved.
. All emergency complaints should be to the emergency centre by dialling 107 from a landline, 021 480 7700 from a cellphone or @pecc107 on Twitter.
What is your opinion on this article? Let us know at briewe@tygerburger.co.za.
