Business Against Crime (BAC) returned to Grahamstown on Wednesday, for a Rapid Urban Response meeting with local businesses.
Business Against Crime (BAC) returned to Grahamstown on Wednesday, for a Rapid Urban Response meeting with local businesses.
Business Against Crime is an initiative which began in 1997, attempting to close the gap between businesses and the government in terms of crime prevention and safety. Brian Howard is the managing director of the organisation in the Eastern Cape, and his efforts have seen some initial success in Grahamstown since the first meeting here in July 2010.
The Steering Committee boasts a number of important players in the local security system, including Brigadier Morgan Govender of the Grahamstown SAPS and Dave Charteris, of the Rhodes Campus Protection Unit.
The new Rapid Urban Response initiative tries to synchronise the responses of various protection agencies, such as SAPS, Netcare 911 and CPU. The idea is that if they all communicate along a certain frequency, emergency calls and panic alarms can be dealt with more quickly and effectively.
The system in place is currently in great working order, according to Howard, with no more than a few technical glitches in its early stages. Everything is running smoothly, Howard says. It was decided that Business Against Crime would run training workshops for volunteers in the Sector Crime and Neighbourhood Watch Forums, and that each organisation should compile a monthly report so data could be collated.
Howard said the organisation's future goals included installing CCTV cameras in known hot spots. This required the support of Grahamstown businesses. Without funding and donations, we can't do much, Howard said. To offer donations or for more information, call 041 373 6401 or visit the website on http://bacec.sa1.rentasite.co.za.
