Community Safety
- What is the police-to-population ratio for the Ladismith and Calitzdorp areas for (a) 2016/17, (b) 2017/18 and (c) 2018/19;
- whether the number of police officers and vehicles deployed to the Ladismith and Calitzdorp areas are sufficient for effective crime-fighting in these areas; if not; what is being done to improve crime-fighting by the South African Police Service and its Department?
4. The South African Police Service informed me as follows:
(1) Police to population ratio:
Calitzdorp Ladismith
(a) 2016/2017 1:210 1:217
(b) 2017/2018 1:213 1:220
(c) 2018/2019 1:220 1:228
These ratios excluded units and components that deliver specialized services to communities across the board in the Western Cape including:
Cluster Offices, Cluster operational capacity and tracing teams, Stabilization and Combat, Multiple Murder Investigation Teams, Firearms Investigation Team, Major Offences Reaction Team, K9 Dog Units, Flying Squad, Mounted Unit, 10111 Command Centre, Vehicle Identification Section, Vehicle Safeguarding Section, Protection Services, Firearm Registration Centre, Public Order Policing Unit, Tactical Response Unit, Operational Coordination Centre, Stock Theft Unit, Family / Child and Sexual Offences Unit, Anti-Corruption Unit, Provincial Organised Crime, Provincial Commercial Crime, Crime Intelligence, Directorate Priority Crime Investigation (DCPI), Railway Police.
(2) Yes, the personnel permanently deployed at the stations are able to address the normal Policing Issues. Whenever a need is identified for additional resources, the forces of specialized units are redirected to assist the local police to address the challenges.
Additional vehicles are deployed during peak times based on crime threats and crime patterns at both of the stations.
