Mayor launches JMPD Officers ProgramExecutive Mayor of Johannesburg Launches The City's Deployment of 10 JMPD Officers Programme
The Executive Mayor Launched and gave further details of a new approach of ward based safety programme led by JMPD
yesterday in Kliptown. This is a comprehensive programme involving the deployment of 10 JMPD officers per ward to tackle
crime and improve the safety and quality of life of the City’s communities. Its implementation has taken on a systematic
multi-agency approach across all the 130 wards in the City of Johannesburg where in addition to the JMPD officers,
agencies across all spheres of government and the private sector and the community at large are involved. These include environmental
health inspectors, town planners, social workers, SA Police Services, Community Policing Forums, Street Patrollers, Neighbourhood Watches,
Private Security sectors, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Community-based Organisations (CBOs), Faith-based Groups, School Committees and Recreational Clubs, etc.
The programme aims to reduce the actual incidences of crime, improve by-law enforcement and traffic management and at the same time engage in proactive policing through improving community relations. This will be done through focused, information-driven and partnership-based approach. It is a move towards greater accountability, transparency and citizen participation. A study has shown that there is a clear link between service delivery breakdown and crime and grime. Therefore, the programme seeks to address issues of basic service delivery while addressing issues of crime prevention, by-law enforcement and traffic management. In this approach, Law Enforcement is inextricably linked to a range of other initiatives aimed at bylaw compliance, addressing social issues such as alcohol abuse and endemic poverty, environmental conservation and mobilising community support for these actions.
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Components of the multi-disciplinary team include:
• Johannesburg Roads Agency ( Blocked storm water drainage, poor signage and road markings)
• PIKITUP (Illegal dumping and littering)
• Development Planning (Illegal constructions, illegal change of use, and disregard of zoning and development rights)
• Environmental Health (Noise pollution, food control, fire health and safety hazards and surveillance and prevention of communicable diseases) As part of our commitment to make Johannesburg a safer city, especially for its most vulnerable residents such as women, children, the elderly and people with disabilities, a number of key priority areas were identified and they include:
• Building trust and active engagement by all as mechanisms through which community safety may be improved;
• Creating sound spaces that promote community safety;
• Addressing alcohol use and abuse patterns by building a different society;
• Maintaining a strong focus on the youth;
• Addressing the needs of the vulnerable sectors in society;
• Taking steps to mitigate areas of harm, such as: fires, floods, and environmental hazards.
The new integrated ward-based law enforcement approach has the following objectives:
Improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the law enforcement system as a deterrent to crime and grime;
Improve compliance with City’s by-laws and other legislation;
Reduce the incidence of violent and economic crimes;
Forge multi-disciplinary integration of policy development, planning, operations management and coherent action;
Ensure full coverage of the city’s geographical space through visibility, timely responses and decisiveness in order to reduce the fear of crime, thus encouraging residents and visitors to utilize public spaces and other amenities;
Address persistent urban management challenges contributing to crime and grime;
Improve the effectiveness of the Municipal Courts in dealing with day to day bylaw infringements.
