Cape Town appoints six new metro police commanders to deal with emergencies

More than 78,000 priority-one incidents involving threats to life or property were reported to the City of Cape Town’s 107 emergency control centre over the past six months, highlighting the immense pressure on the city’s emergency response services.

The figure emerged on Wednesday as the city unveiled six new Metro Police shift commanders tasked with improving emergency response times, resource deployment, and co-ordination among Metro Police, law enforcement and traffic services.

The commanders, each with around 25 years of law enforcement experience, were introduced at the Transport Management Centre in Goodwood as part of the city’s ongoing efforts to strengthen public safety through smarter, faster and more co-ordinated operational responses.

The move comes as the Western Cape continues to grapple with high levels of violent crime.

While the latest SAPS crime statistics show murders in the province declined, year on year, by 8% from 1,068 cases to 983 cases between January and March this year, the province still records some of the highest levels of violent crime in the country.

Attempted murder dropped by 10.3% to 1,025 cases, while overall contact crimes decreased by 6.5%. However, provincial authorities have warned that violence, particularly gang-related crime, remains unacceptably high.

Addressing the newly appointed commanders, commissioner of public safety and operational co-ordination Petrus Roberts stressed the critical role they would play in ensuring swift responses to public complaints.

“Over the last six months, we have dealt with approximately 78,000 priority-one incidents. Of these, about 37,000 were handled by Metro Police, 49,000 by law enforcement and 34,000 by traffic services,” said Roberts.

“If the people at the 107 control centre do not react quickly to complaints and dispatch officers promptly, we will have unhappy residents who will continue complaining about poor service delivery. You, as the six superintendents, are responsible for ensuring there is never a resolution code that states there was no vehicle available.”

Roberts said he was impressed by the calibre of the newly appointed commanders and made it clear they would be held accountable for operational performance.

“The performance of your members depends on your command and control within the centre. If I have problems in the operational environment, I will come back to the six of you. This is where the buck stops.”

He urged the commanders to continuously monitor service delivery and ensure effective co-ordination between the three enforcement agencies.

“That is your job. We cannot afford a situation where all three services are dispatched to the same complaint while other incidents remain unattended. Every complaint waiting out there requires an urgent response.”

Director of CCTV and radio communication Barry Schuller said the appointments formed part of a broader restructuring process aimed at integrating the city’s emergency communication systems.

“The introduction of the new shift commanders was prompted by the fact that we had three separate radio control rooms, traffic services, Metro Police and law enforcement, that were not effectively communicating with one another,” said Schuller.

“There was no central co-ordination. We are now moving towards a single emergency radio communication centre, and the shift commanders have arrived at the perfect time to help shape and lead that process.”

Schuller said the commanders brought a wealth of operational experience from various specialised units across the city’s safety and security directorate.

He added that the city’s extensive surveillance network continued to play an increasingly important role in crime prevention and law enforcement operations.

“We currently have approximately 3,500 CCTV cameras across the city, and in the past year alone, these systems contributed to 460 arrests.”

He said the commanders would have access to both advanced technology and human resources to improve responses to incidents.

“We have instructed them to prioritise priority-one incidents, those involving immediate threats to life and property.”

Mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith said emergency control rooms had evolved significantly over the years.

“There was a time when control rooms were where we placed people who could not be used elsewhere. Back then, the control room’s role was simply to take a complaint and throw it out there, hoping somebody would respond,” he said.

He said the city had since invested heavily in modernising emergency response systems through computer-aided dispatch technology.

“A critical change started some years ago when we began trying to catch up with international best practice. No modern police service or emergency service anywhere in the world operates without computer-aided dispatch systems.

“The reality is that South Africa has lagged behind because of decades of underinvestment and a lack of modernisation in policing and emergency services.”

Smith said the integration of technology, surveillance and experienced command personnel would strengthen the city’s ability to respond to emergencies and deploy resources more effectively.

“The goal is simple: to ensure the right resources are dispatched to the right incidents at the right time, ultimately improving safety for residents across Cape Town.”

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