Skollies and skelms on the Cape Flats will soon have no place to hide as the City’s sheriff, JP Smith, is set to launch the country’s first “Eye in the Sky”, which will monitor all incidents across the Mother City.
The private hangar near the Cape Town International Airport buzzed with excitement this week, as high-ranking officials got a first look at the new plane which has been fitted with a state-of-the-art camera to monitor incidents in real time, providing intel to Law Enforcement agencies.
After nearly three years of hard work, the tender was approved and officials will now undergo training as the project is rolled out.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Voice, Smith explains that they are investing in hi-tech projects to aid officers on the ground to tackle incidents ranging from fires on the mountain slopes to chasing down skollies.
The camera known as the Argos II was developed by German company Hensoldt, which specialises in developing military surveillance products for various countries.
Smith says this technology is still new in South Africa, while police departments in other major cities have been using similar technology as a standard practice for data collection and crime fighting for years.
Smith says helicopters are extremely expensive to run and many municipalities have explored other options.
He explains: “...there is something else we can do and that is the option of a very small and affordable plane to get airborne and a powerful camera rig that will allow us to do anti-poaching operations, anti-gang operations, traffic management, managing fire incidents, Cash-In-Transit heists or any other type of incident where you need rapid eyes on an area.”
The system which functions through all weather conditions and at any time of the day has been tested on both drag racers and gang shootings.
Smith says during a test in Mitchells Plain, the plane zoomed in on a group of drag racers while officers watched closely and identified various vehicles and drivers.
He says instead of confronting the racers who normally flee when cops arrive, officers calmly followed one of the racers home and gave him a helse skrik.
Smith adds: “The look on his face was precious. This system helps us better deploy our resources as well and get targeted arrests with objective evidence in the form of video footage.”
Smith says the system is set to be used alongside ShotSpotter in the communities affected by gun violence and is aimed at tackling gang strongholds.
He concludes, saying: “Now you can actively monitor a shooter running away from the crime scene and wait until he goes home or to wherever the firearms are hidden and possibly recover more firearms than before.
“The great thing is due to the cameras abilities where it can zoom in for many kilometres, the plane does not need to hover over a certain community at a specific time.
“They will never know when it is airborne.”
According to Smith, it will cost the municipality approximately R60 000 to keep the plan airborne for an hour but says it will only be used when the need is identified. He says the tender is capped at just over R100 million.