CBD gets 11 extra metro cops – to replace 75 guards

Additional metro police officers have been deployed to patrol the Port Elizabeth CBD after the Mandela Bay Development Agency’s contract with a private security firm ended last month.

Metro police chief Yolande Faro confirmed on Monday that 11 additional officers had been trained in June and had been deployed to the area based on crime statistics.

This is a drastic drop from the 75 private security officers who were stationed at points in Parliament Street and Govan Mbeki Avenue, among other streets in Central.

The MBDA terminated its contract with Metro Security last month to cut costs.

In its business plan for the 2018/2019 financial year, the agency said that terminating the contract was a budgetary sacrifice.

Faro said on Monday that the 11 additional officers would also patrol the beachfront area.

“The metro police employed 11 additional members in June and we deploy according to the crime pattern and the crime threat analysis,” she said.

One of the facilities vulnerable to potential criminal activity is the Athenaeum in Central – one of the MBDA's rejuvenation projects.

Staff at the Athenaeum, who asked not to be named, said they had not yet seen any metro police patrolling around the facility.