South Africa: Western Cape Police Oversight and Community Safety on Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) Progress – African Business

Between 12 – 18 September 2022, Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) officers confiscated 6 illegal firearms and arrested of 123 individuals for a variety of crimes. This means in the space of two weeks, since 5 – 18 September 2022, 13 illegal firearms have been removed off our streets and 302 individuals have been arrested.

LEAP is an initiative of Western Cape Government and is run in partnership to the City of Cape Town.

Gugulethu and Bishop Lavis were among those that confiscated firearms. Delft, Nyanga, and Delft were also affected.

Minister Reagen Allen said: “The LEAP officers along with their partners should be commended for their continued effort to create safer communities. Their constant visibility shows the importance of having extra boots on the ground, as this helps ensure that communities feel safer.”

During the same time, LEAP officers have also had:

• Searched 741 people
• We found 293 houses.
• 1 123 patrols were conducted in hotspot areas
• Conducted 122 roadblocks
• We found 830 results

One person was arrested for possession of an illegal firearm; six for illegal ammunition; five for possession of imitation firearms; 77 for possession drugs and fourteen for possession of dangerous weapons.

LEAP officers are part of a variety of law enforcement agencies and they conducted 179 integrated operations with other City of Cape Town Law Enforcement Agencies as well as SAPS.

LEAP officers stem from the WCG’s Safety Plan, which was initiated in September 2019. The Safety Plan, which is the brainchild of Premier Alan Winde, came about as a result of the WCG’s commitment to address the high murder rate in the province. The primary goal of the Safety Plan is to reduce murder rates by 50% by 2029. LEAP is delivered in partnership by the Western Cape Government, City of Cape Town and City of Cape Town.

Based on the available evidence and data, the operational strategy and deployments of the various teams are based. This approach is also used in monitoring and evaluation to assess the effectiveness of LEAP. It informs a cycle for continuous improvement. This includes the top 10 murder areas in Western Cape: Delft, Gugulethu and Harare, Khayelitsha, Site B policing Precinct, Kraaifontein. Mfuleni. Mitchells Plain. Nyanga. Philippi East. Samora Machel. Atlantis, Bishop Lavis, Hanover Park, Steenberg, and Grassy Park are all other high-crime areas where they are deployed.

Minister Reagen Allen added: “LEAP’s strategic and deliberate deployment will continue, as it’s directly working in areas that require these extra resources. The National Minister continues to fail the Western Cape by not providing the resources that are required, but we’re not sitting on our laurels, and instead is going the extra mile for our citizens. LEAP, and the manner in which they are managed is but an introduction to what SAPS would look like once they are devolved to a capable province such as ours.”

LEAP incorporates information from the WCG’s Safety Dashboard. This dashboard provides real-time information to provincial safety stakeholders. It helps identify where LEAP officers most need to be deployed. This allows us to predict where new hotspots might appear, allowing us to deploy the resources necessary to prevent crime and save lives. The Safety Dashboard will integrate the Emergency Medical Services data (EMS) with the Safety Dashboard to give us a more complete picture about violence and trauma in the province. This will enable us to launch our LEAP response.

“We should never lose the appetite in our fight against crime,” concluded Minister Allen.

Distributed by APO Group, South African Government