By Kouthar Sambo
The Western Cape Government has called on the national government to deploy more police officers in the province.
MEC for Police Oversight and Community Safety, Reagen Allen, said it is clear that police deployment should be based on data evidence where murder and overall crime rate is the highest.
Furthermore, Police Minister Bheki Cele expressed concern this week about the high rate of murders in the Western Cape after reports indicated that more than 100 people were murdered in the province in one week.
Cele commenced with deploying extra police officers to the Gugulethu area, Cape Town. And while the additional support has been welcomed, community members have raised the question of why proactive policing is only activated after numerous residents tragically lost their lives.
Speaking on VOC’s Drive Time on Wednesday, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Police Practice at the University of South Africa Dr Dumisani Mabunda said there are two types of policing: proactive and reactive.
“What we are seeing now is reactive policing, which is bad. We require proactive policing in South Africa, which is supported by effective crime intelligence. It boggles my mind to see that we wait until there is a number of people who have been shot and killed, then we see our officials appearing on television as if they are doing something that is grand,” added Mabunda.
Mabunda went on to emphasize the importance of a “strong crime intelligence.”
“They should be able to detect the dangerous groups planning to massacre these people and nip it in the bud immediately,” reiterated Mabunda.
Photo: VOCfm
