Four months after Steenberg residents held a protest calling for an increased police presence in the area, 64 Law Enforcement Advancement Programme officers have been deployed in Steenberg and Grassy Park.
The protest was held in January after three people were killed in gang violence in Steenberg.
The enforcement officers were deployed this week while 154 recruits, currently in training, will be deployed to other crime ridden areas.
During the course of last week, the officers made 95 arrests and issued 3 245 notices across the City of Cape Town.
There are 1 116 enforcement officers deployed in high-crime precincts across Cape Town including Delft, Gugulethu, Bishop Lavis, Manenberg, Harare, Khayelitsha, Kraaifontein, Mfuleni, Mitchells Plain, Nyanga, Philippi East, and Samora Machel.
Mayco member for Safety and Security JP Smith said the officers were not taking over from the police service but assisting in the City’s anti-crime strategy.
“It is important to mention that the South African Police Service (SAPS) remains the primary agency tasked with crime prevention, in terms of planning and execution of the operational approach. The objective of LEAP is ultimately to ensure that visible policing numbers and actions increase,” said JP Smith.
Ward 68 Councillor Marita Peterson welcomed the deployment and promised to work with local police services.
“We are excited because we want the gang violence to end as innocent people are being victims. We still want them to be deployed to Lavender Hill as well because in those precincts there is still high violence there,” he said.