Squad cars are write-offs

DURBAN residents are under attack from brazen criminals who have targeted them at their homes and businesses. However, their first line of defence, the flying squad, is often unable to respond to life threatening emergencies.

Twenty years ago this elite, rapid response unit had more than 300 members with 15 high performance vehicles on the road at any time. Today the unit has shrunk to about 100 members who are deployed in the fight against crime. The others work in administration.

The unit currently operates with less than five or six high performance vehicles a shift. However, the area they protect is large – from Winklespruit and Umbumbulu in the south, to Hillcrest in the west, and Tongaat in the north.

On some occasions there is no one in the unit able to respond to 10111 emergencies because the unit is performing other duties like guarding politicians, diplomats and celebrities.

A case in point was when the Springboks rugby team were in Durban training for the World Cup. The flying squad was responsible for escorting them to and from their training facilities. Currently, they are doing the same for the New Zealand cricket team who are in Durban.

Some of the members of the unit are fed up.

“It is not our responsibility to transport diplomats around when we could be fighting real crime. In some cases we are asked to transport people from the embassies to banks just so they can withdraw money. This distracts the unit from the work that we should really be doing. Due to performing these other duties, we sometimes do not have the capacity to respond to real crime;

“This is not the job of the flying squad. What makes these diplomats and officials more important than our citizens?” said one member who requested anonymity.

Another policeman, who also did not want to be named, said the lack of vehicle maintenance was a serious issue.

“Some of our cars remain at the workshops for months and do not get maintained or repaired timeously. This leaves us in a difficult position.”

Several policemen said the unit should be responding to crimes that IN AN Institute for Security Studies report last year, it was revealed that:

Every day, 49 people were killed and 48 people were victims of attempted murder.

There had been 12 773 vehicle hijackings. On average, 35 vehicles were hijacked every day in 2014/15.

An average of 56 households were attacked each day in 2014/15.

There were 20 281 incidents of crime. This statistic had passed the 20 000 mark for the first time.

Business robbery was on the increase. An average of 53 businesses (including schools and churches) were robbed a day. were in progress and that a separate unit should be formed for guarding. However, the police already have a VIP unit that provides protection for politicians.

Two members who previously belonged to the flying squad claimed the unit was poorly managed. Both claimed “the best of the best” had previously been taken into the unit. They were well trained in the use of weapons and were given high performance driver training.