Police from PE lead in anti-crime operations

TWO Port Elizabeth police officers are back from Cape Town, where they helped set up the country’s second Operational Command Centre.

Friday’s launch in Cape Town comes a year after the national pilot project began in Port Elizabeth as part of a gang violence clampdown.

The centres are the brainchild of deputy national commissioner Lieutenant-General Gary Kruser.

Police Minister Fikile Mbalula and acting commissioner General Kgomotso Phahlane were present at the centre’s launch.

“The Operational Command Centre (OCC) is the second of its kind nationally,” Phahlane said in his speech.

“The first cluster Operational Command Centre was launched in Gelvandale and Bethelsdorp [last year] . . . in a bid to eradicate the volatile situation that was unfolding.”

As with the Port Elizabeth project, Phahlane said, the police would work hand-in-hand with the National Prosecuting Authority to ensure that gangsters were convicted.

The launch comes after Mount Road cluster OCC commander Brigadier Keith Meyer travelled to Cape Town with the national intervention team to assist with implementation.

Meyer said the aim of the centre was to focus on intelligence-driven operations on targeted hot spot areas.

The concept, part of the police’s Back to Basics campaign, is manned by staff and senior officers who can oversee all response and crime prevention vehicles 24 hours a day.

This centre also includes various police branches – detectives, forensic, surveillance and firearms specialists.

“We have dedicated teams who track down and arrest [people] believed to be involved in [multiple] criminal incidents,” Meyer said.

“We are plagued with the same issue, gangsterism, and we will share information and ideas on a continuous basis.

“We have ironed out all the teething problems. With the assistance of our national office, we are confident that Port Elizabeth can lead the way for the [whole] country,” he said.

As part of the roll-out, Meyer and his team will be briefing various other stakeholders around the country.

Yesterday, OCC spokeswoman Colonel Priscilla Naidu revealed that crime had dropped and said the centre would clamp down on identified hot spot areas.