The City’s Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) has gained momentum with the first dedicated deployment of Learner Law Enforcement officers(LLEO) in Delft. They marked their arrival with a crime prevention and awareness operation.
The deployment of 50 officers was widely welcomed by the community. This forms part of the first deployment of officers in the three identified areas, namely Delft, Khayelitsha and Philippi/Hanover Park.
To mark the occasion, officers held a crime prevention operation in Delft, focusing on vehicle checkpoints, stop-and-search, by-law enforcement as well as house searches.
‘These visible operations in the community not only serve as a deterrent against criminal activity, but also create an opportunity for officers to get to know the environment and build relationships with community members. Crime prevention is a shared responsibility, and so we call on the communities where these officers are being deployed to work with them, in the interest of a safer environment for all,’ said the Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.
During the Delft training operation, officers stopped 107 vehicles and issued 23 fines to the value of R25 150. They also visited nearly 40 homes as part of their community engagement and distributed 500 public safety pamphlets.
The first 500 LEAP officers are still finalising their in-field training, and the dedicated deployment in the other priority areas in Khayelitsha and Philippi/Hanover Park, will happen in due course.