Safety in the Cape Town CBD is being beefed up ahead of the Festive Season, with the Cape Town Central City Improvement District (CCID) upping its security contingent on the ground to prevent petty crime in the city centre.
The CCID’s Safety & Security department is increasing the number of safety officers who are deployed in town 24/7 to target opportunistic crime – especially ATM fraud – in the CBD before visitors descend on the Mother City for their year-end holiday. Other petty crimes that will be targeted include chain-snatching, pickpocketing, cell phone theft and theft out of motor vehicles.
Muneeb Hendricks, manager of CCID Safety & Security, says there will be 109 Public Safety Officers (PSOs) deployed per shift at any given time to create a visible safety presence all over town.
“We have noticed a worrying increase in ATM fraud in the CBD of late, with scammers up to no good on a daily basis, and we are having urgent meetings with all the stakeholders to come up with a plan of action,” Hendricks said.
A special task team – comprising CCID Safety & Security, SAPS’s commercial crime unit, City Law Enforcement and the banking sector – is being set up to run daily covert operations to fight back and reduce the number of incidents.
CCID Public Safety Officers handing out flyers with top safety tips.
FESTIVE SEASON STRATEGY
The CCID’s festive season safety strategy aims to “eliminate the opportunity to commit a crime before it happens”, especially over the holiday season when visitors are relaxed and let down their guard.
The CCID’s PSOs work with eight dedicated City Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs) contracted via the City of Cape Town. This team will also be on the beat and has powers of arrest which gives the CCID the full reach of the law by being able to issue fines for all bylaw contraventions.
To encourage the public to be vigilant in town, CCID Safety & Security is collaborating with City Law Enforcement and the City’s Tourism Unit to educate people daily about ATM fraud, common robbery, and theft out of motor vehicles by handing out flyers with important safety tips. Spaces targeted include Greenmarket Square, Company’s Garden, Adderley and Castle sts and Long St, which includes the area where the popular City Sightseeing Red Bus operates.
Regular crime prevention operations will also take place with SAPS, City Law Enforcement and Metro Police in all hot-spot areas targeted by opportunistic criminals. These operations focus on stop-and-search operations to look for dangerous weapons, house- and car-breaking implements, drugs and possible stolen items.
“The aim is to create a safety net around the CBD by partnering with all law agencies and downtown businesses,” says Hendricks.
Tourism Monitors deployed in the CBD to improve the visitor experience.
TOURISM MONITORS
Tourism Monitors, deployed and managed by CCID Safety & Security and funded by the National Department of Tourism in collaboration with the Expanded Public Works Programme, will also be reintroduced in the CBD in December.
The monitors will be stationed around tourism attractions and hotels to improve the visitor experience. “They will increase our security visibility in town, and be our ‘eyes and ears’ on the ground. They’ll also educate members of the public about Covid-19 safety protocols in areas with large queues to help reduce the risk of infections,” says Hendricks.
While CCID Safety & Security provides top-up services to those of the South African Police Service (SAPS) and City of Cape Town Law Enforcement all year round, it intensifies these from December until March and treats this entire period as the festive season.
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IMAGES: CCID