23 February 2007

A R600-million national pilot study is to be carried out in Gauteng that will see the creation of a new 10111 emergency response centre linked by satellite tracking devices to every police and emergency vehicle in the province.

Delivering his State of the Province address in Johannesburg on Monday, Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa said the new emergency response centre would replace the province's six existing ones in July.

"The latest technology will be introduced to ensure that each emergency call is attended to as quickly as possible," Shilowa said.

When a member of the public dials 10111, a call-centre operator will be able to use satellite tracking to locate the nearest police or emergency vehicle, and to direct the vehicle to the emergency scene by the shortest route. "The system will digitally track the response of each police vehicle and record all communication between the caller, the 10111 centre operators and the police official responding to the call."

Shilowa said the province would also be establishing a world-class police performance monitoring system that would allow the provincial government to track the performance of each police station in the province.

This would allow for action to be taken against poorly performing stations, while giving recognition to those who have succeeded in reducing levels of crime around their area.

Shilowa noted that, as part of the restructuring of the South African Police Service, some 3 000 police officers - including many with experience as station commanders - had been sent to police stations in areas with high levels of crime.

He said this had led to more effective policing, with stations in Johannesburg Central, Hillbrow and Booysens recording a drop in serious crime. Overall, 58% of the province's police stations had recorded a decrease in priority crimes following the restructuring process.

Source: BuaNews