Lamoer: Police responded to Cape Town plan

2012-06-05 10:05

Cape Town - The SA Police Service (SAPS) has rubbished a claim that it is unresponsive to a plan to train law enforcement reservists for Cape Town communities.

Provincial police commissioner Arno Lamoer, speaking on 567CapeTalk on Tuesday morning, said his office had responded to the City of Cape Town.

"[They] did receive a response from our office that the issue has been referred to the national office because it's a decision which needs to be taken on a national level," he said.

He added that the metro police had tried a similar system in 2006 but that it had failed to get off the ground as the national police office at the time refused to implement it.

A Cape Times report on Tuesday quoted mayoral committee member JP Smith as saying that despite sending a proposal to the SAPS and several follow-ups, there had been no response from Lamoer.

He said that the city wanted to recruit 100 reservists from existing neighbourhood watches and put them in uniforms to enforce by-laws, thereby easing the strain on the SAPS.

About R2m in funding was available for stipends, vehicles, uniforms and equipment for an initial 100 reservists in the first year.

The plan was to bump this up to 200 people later on.

Pilot areas would include Nyanga and Mitchells Plain.

"Existing neighbourhood watches already do good work in many communities, but the reservist programme will give them real powers and compel them to professionalise themselves and work in a more structured and supervised manner," Smith said.

- SAPA