Crime-fighting initiative launched in Bay

The Eyes and Ears initiative has been launched in Nelson Mandela Bay as a collaborative effort to enhance safety and security in the region.

This initiative involves key stakeholders such as the South African Police Service (SAPS), Agri Eastern Cape, Business Against Crime South Africa (BACSA), and the Private Security Industry (PSI), who are leveraging their expertise and resources to create a coordinated response to crime through shared resources and information.

“The strategic involvement of the right stakeholders to develop a common understanding of the highest impact on safety and security issues affecting business and the city, is what has led to the establishment of this initiative in Nelson Mandela Bay. The formulation of a collective approach to finding practical and sustainable solutions through sharing resources to take collective action, is the key to unlocking an enabling environment which promotes sustainable economic development,” says Alfie Jay, the Lead for the Chamber’s Safety and Security Task Team

The initiative is an official joint crime fighting initiative between these key stakeholders. The Private Security Industry formally cooperates with the SAPS by relaying information directly to the District Operational Command Centre (DOCC) and in some instances, receiving such relevant information directly from it. This information sharing will also feed into the Provincial Operations Command Centre (POCC) located in Zwelitsha and assist in the fight against crime at a provincial level.

Its objectives are to enhance the situational awareness of the SAPS by using the Private Security Industry’s (PSI) geographical deployment footprint for the sharing of information, to enhance operational response to crime hotspot areas, violent crimes, TRIO crimes (hijackings, house robberies and business robberies) and with specific emphasis on crimes which are heavily dependent on situational information and a shared concern for both the SAPS and the PSI, including allowing for the PSI to assist each other (and SAPS) where needed in a non-commercial and non-competitive capacity.

Jay further elaborates that through various discussions and research, the team discovered that although the initiative has been active, it has only been operational at a provincial level in the Eastern Cape.

“However, the high volume of information trafficked into the system is too overwhelming for both the SAPS as well as the PSI in the Metro to effectively track, collaborate and action on information which is only pertinent to the city,” says Jay.

He says that the collaboration between the Chamber’s Safety and Security Task Team, BACSA, the SAPS, the PSI and Agri Eastern Cape, has led to the establishment of the Eyes and Ears District Steering Committee, which will serve as a joint crime fighting entity that has the responsibility to oversee effective coordination and sharing of information between the District Operational Command Centre, and the Private Security Industry with a strong focus on Nelson Mandela Bay.  

“The PSI’s proximity to incidents, crime scenes, or crime hotspots, provide for responsive situational information that will inform and enable the SAPS to appropriately and rapidly respond to such incidents and track suspicious persons, vehicles – and the monitoring of routes and diversion tactics by suspects and perpetrators of crime,” he says.

“Being able to exclusively network participating camera feeds from various PSI’s and other institutions in Nelson Mandela Bay into one set of control room monitors, will enable improved solutions to monitoring, tracking, and collaboration, the purpose of which is to apprehend suspects, make arrests, and reduce crime in Nelson Mandela Bay.”   

Agri Eastern Cape Operations Manager Jason Kümm says while Agri EC serves its members mostly in the rural sections of the Eastern Cape, the organisation “has come on board to assist the Nelson Mandela Bay District in establishing the operational centre and as an impartial party to guide the steering committee and role players in establishing the best practices for a proactive and effective outcome.”

Agri EC will assist in coordinating information and resources available in the Eyes and Ears project through its 24/7 coordination centre located in the Bay.

Nelson Mandela Bay District Commissioner Major General VuyisileNcata says the Metro being the province’s hotspot for hijackings, vehicle theft, business and house robberies, will benefit from the implementation of the Eyes and Ears project.

According to Ncata, the recovery rate of hijacked or stolen motor vehicles is currently between 90-98%.

“The initiative will strengthen our efforts to prevent and react whenever the crimes are committed as our reaction will be quicker than before. The more successes the SAPS achieves, will serve as a deterrent to other criminal elements. This collaboration will further strengthen existing partnerships between all law enforcement agencies, both from the state and private industry,” says Ncata.

By pooling resources and enhancing information sharing, the initiative aims to improve the effectiveness of crime prevention and response, ultimately contributing to sustainable economic development in the region.