Thousands held as cops deploy to crime hot spots
THE recently launched Operation Thunder targeting crime hot spots in the Western Cape has seen thousands of people arrested over three months.
Of those arrests 48 were for murder, 63 for attempted murder, 192 for robberies, 51 for sexual assaults and 645 for assaults.
A total of 1 861 suspects were arrested for drug-related crimes and 58 for possession of unlicensed firearms, according to Police Minister Bheki Cele.
He said officers confiscated 100kg of dagga, 260kg of cocaine, 700kg of heroin, 5 441 mandrax tablets, 994 ammunition and 3 242 litres of liquor.
Operation Thunder was launched in Mitchells Plain in May with 269 police personnel deployed to nine identified stations in the province, including Mitchells Plain, Steenberg, Manenberg, Philippi, Bishop Lavis, Worcester, Ravensmead and Elsies River.
Philippi East police station was added in June. Cele said the operation was meant to ensure 24-hour visible policing and to integrate operational forces including the metro police, traffic and law enforcement agencies.
Several gang bosses had been arrested, he said, including some alleged hitmen of the 28s gang, Hard Livings and Laughing Boys in Hanover Park. “The base camps are for managing deployment, ensuring rapid response to incidents, securing crime scenes, ensuring command and control and monitoring of performance targets,” he said.
The base camps resulted in improving relationships with communities, allowing information to be volunteered by residents, creating conditions where communities were more comfortable to report crime.
Asked whether deploying the army was on the cards, Cele said: “The people don’t want the army‚ they want safety. If you give them police visibility and better safety‚ the’ll take that.”
The operation would continue until its objectives had been met, he added.
In Mitchells Plain, where gang violence has escalated to an extent that three schools closed yesterday fearing for their safety, Cele said: “It’s one of the most hostile communities towards the police and towards the law generally.”