Pretoria - Metro police officers on bicycles have proven effective, leading to the arrest of criminals targeting students, drunk drivers and drug dealers in Hatfield and other Pretoria east areas.
Yesterday, the City of Tshwane relaunched its Metro Police Department Bicycle Unit in partnership with the City Improvement District and the University of Pretoria.
The university donated 20 new bicycles worth R300 000 to aid the unit for the fight against crime and provision of medical assistance when civilians find themselves in need.
The Hatfield Tshwane Metro Police Department Bicycle Unit was first launched in 2017 and, following its success, it was later expanded into a fully operational satellite station in 2019.
Traffic officials and members of the public watched yesterday as mayor Randall Williams handed the bicycles to the men and women in blue.
They then cycled, while he encouraged them to continue to serve the people with pride and integrity.
The areas have high student traffic because of the nearby University of Pretoria campus and several colleges.
Students have fallen victims to cellphone and other robberies at the hands of opportunistic criminals, and the team has played an active role in nabbing robbers and recovering stolen goods.
Williams said: “Daily, they have 10 officers deployed per shift with one supervisor, and this ensures police visibility in the area.
“The partnership between our bicycle unit and the City Improvement District has proven to be effective in road policing, by-laws enforcement and crime prevention in Hatfield.”
Recent statistics indicate that between January and September, the team arrested 109 suspects for drinking and driving, provided 104 people with medical assistance, recovered 47 cellphones where cases were not opened, and busted 38 cellpone robbers.
The unit also arrested 28 people for drug-related incidents and recovered 41 vehicles.
Williams said the City wanted to have such programmes and units across Tshwane and was running similar operations in the Rosslyn area to improve police visibility and discourage crime in areas.
MMC for Community Safety, Grandi Theunissen, said: “This is the only way we can really address crime on the one hand, but it is also much wider than crime. Statistics indicate that not all were not all crime statistics, but it was also statistics with regards to health issues. People that needed urgent medical attention were actually served by the metro emergency services.”
Williams said the bicycle unit used to exist in Pretoria CBD, but became dysfunctional many years ago due to bad management.
He said the multiparty coalition administration was looking at reviving the unit.
Pretoria News