On 27 October, Business Against Crime (BAC), a national organisation of business leaders dedicated to combatting crime, will formally launch its Rapid Urban Response Project (RUR) in Grahamstown.
Grahamstown will join Port Elizabeth, East London, and Port Alfred as the fourth municipality in the Eastern Cape to receive RUR.
On 27 October, Business Against Crime (BAC), a national organisation of business leaders dedicated to combatting crime, will formally launch its Rapid Urban Response Project (RUR) in Grahamstown.
Grahamstown will join Port Elizabeth, East London, and Port Alfred as the fourth municipality in the Eastern Cape to receive RUR.
Crime statistics released this year by the South African Police Service (SAPS) show that the Eastern Cape has seen a decline in recent years in a number of major crime categories, although the murder rate remains the highest of any province at a rate of 47.3 crimes per 100 000 residents.
Despite overall positive crime trends, rates of robbery at both residential and non-residential premises have climbed in the past three years.
According to Bryan Howard, Managing Director of BAC, Eastern Cape, the RUR project is designed to increase coordination between the SAPS, municipal emergency services, private security firms, and neighbourhood watch forums in order to optimise response times to emergencies.
Residents can be sure, Howard said, that "they will receive a coordinated response to their emergency" no matter what number it is that they dial. Port Elizabeth has 10 000 armed private security guards, Howard told attendees at an Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) Forum in Grahamstown, "but they are not synchronised".
Only by increasing coordination, Howard argues, can communities begin to combat the "pervasive sense of hopelessness, powerlessness, and law-enforcement abandonment [that]typifies consumer sentiments." The first phase of the project in Grahamstown will be the equipping and training of neighborhood watch forums.
By the time of the launch, 12 to 14 handheld and mobile radios will be on the ground in Grahamstown, operating on a dedicated frequency and backed up by a base station monitored 24/7 by Hi-Tec Security.
BAC will provide free training, coordinated by security firm ADT, to neighbourhood watch forums, in areas such as self-defense, baton use, intelligent patrolling, crime scene containment, radio operation, and making a citizen's arrest.
Additional equipment will include whistles and reflective vests. Members of neighbourhood watch groups will undergo a vetting process to ensure they have no criminal record before they can participate in the project. Their patrols will be carried out in coordination with members of SAPS.
A later phase of the project will entail the installation of closed-circuit cameras around the city, contingent on financial support from the business community, Howard said.
Businesses will benefit from investing in the project, he argued, from the increased consumer confidence that will result.
According to Howard, the project has been particularly successful in combatting petty crime in Port Alfred. The project's steering committee, which includes members of all the entities involved, including SAPS, security firms, neighbourhood watch forums, and several business leaders, will determine the location of "hot spots" where these cameras will be located, by relying on SAPS statistics.
"We don't dictate the terms of the project," Howard stated. The key to the success of the project, he continued, "is to involve as many roleplayers from the community," who understand specific local needs and conditions.
At the same time, he said that it is up to the community to report incidents so that SAPS statistics are complete and truly reflective of crime patterns. BAC has invested as much as R25 000 in Grahamstown so far, in equipment and training.
The cost of the project in the long term is estimated at R5 000 per month. The Grahamstown project, Howard told the IGR Forum, has taken no money from government whatsoever.
Beginning at the Grahamstown launch, BAC will reach out to local businesses to seek their financial support in tax-deductible donations that will support the project going forward.
"Money emanating from Grahamstown businesses, will stay in Grahamstown," pledged Howard. At the IGR Forum, Executive P.R. Councilor Piryawaden Pierre Ranchhod expressed his wish that the project not be confined to the CBD, but also address crime in Grahamstown's townships.
Howard acknowledged the importance of protecting the whole of the city, and emphasized the role of neighbourhood watch groups in reaching out to and safeguarding township residents, who face the highest crime rates but most of whom are not enrolled in private security protection.
BAC South Africa was founded in 1996 in response to President Nelson Mandela's call for the business community to join in the fight against crime, and since then has launched initiatives across the nation, ranging from management training at police stations to efforts in combatting trafficking of stolen vehicles through plate recognition technology.
The formal launch of the Grahamstown RUR project will take place on Thursday, 27 October at 2pm, at the Highlander Guest House. The public is invited to attend, but it is requested that they RSVP to info(((at)))bacec.co.za.
