Skollies and skelms in Delft are in for a tough time as 120 Law Enforcement and Metro Police officers will be stationed exclusively in this area for the next three years.
The City of Cape Town launched the first Neighbourhood Safety Team (NST) in Delft yesterday.
The NST project was initiated two years ago and will see R20 million of resources being sent to Delft each year to combat crime.
City Mayco Member for Safety and Security, JP Smith, says due to the high level of violent crimes in the area, Delft was chosen as the preferred area to pilot the project.
He says over the years they have explored various interventions to address crime in the most vulnerable communities.
These include the Stabilisation Unit, School Resource Officers, Neighbourhood Safety Officers, Gang and Drug Task Team and a violence interruption intervention.
The NST initiative combines all of these into an integrated intervention that will be sustained for at least three years.
Smith says Delft has been divided into four sections which will be managed by a senior Metro Police officer and meetings will be held regularly to discuss progress made in each section.
The Western Cape social development department has also assigned five social workers who will work exclusively in Delft with a focus on at-risk children.
Special focus areas include public transport interchanges, shopping areas and hotspots identified through crime pattern analysis.
Reginald Maart, spokesperson for the Blue Downs Cluster Community Police Forum (CPF), which also covers Delft, has welcomed the initiative.
“We are excited and welcome this project in Delft because it is really needed.”