The City of Cape Town recently made dozens of arrests thanks to the use of drone surveillance technology.
Drones are rapidly becoming an essential tool for law enforcement in South Africa, providing an extra set of eyes that complement the existing CCTV camera network in many cities.
According to an official press release, Cape Town’s enforcement agencies arrested 235 suspects and issued 45,786 fines in a single week with the assistance of drone operators.
“The expanded use of digital tools to complement enforcement efforts has become part and parcel of our public safety operations,” said Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.
“These tools display their worth time and again, as we saw this past week, when CCTV and drone operators led teams on the ground to criminal acts in progress.”
Over this period, metro police officers arrested 51 individuals for various offences, and issued 2,784 fines for traffic and by-law infringements.
Another five suspects were arrested on charges including the illegal possession of drugs and defeating the ends of justice.
During one incident, officials used the city’s surveillance network to identify two suspects smoking what appeared to be an illegal substance on the corner of Strand and Plein Streets in the Cape Town CBD.
Officers were dispatched to the scene where they found the two suspects in possession of mandrax.
Commenting on the use of drones, JP Smith explained that they are a valuable tool that provides greater situational awareness for staff on the ground by offering a broader view of potentially dangerous scenarios.
Additionally, the cameras used by the city’s drones and CCTV network are able to record and storage footage, which can be used as evidence in the event a criminal is caught red-handed.
This type of video evidence can often be the key to a successful prosecution, said JP Smith.
A criminal’s worst nightmare
The use of drones in law enforcement efforts was recently thrown into the spotlight by a private drone operator, who used his device to track down suspects linked to a series of smash-and-grab incidents.
The individual, known as “AJ,” is an ex-policeman who regularly uses his free time to monitor known crime hotspots from the sky to profile suspicious individuals.
While he acted on his own for a few years, AJ has become involved with private security companies and the South African Police Services (SAPS), supplying them with drone footage that can be used as evidence to identify and prosecute criminals.
He notifies the authorities when he will be flying his drone, and is in constant contact with the police while doing so, reporting on crimes in real-time.
This has led to several arrests in recent months, many of which would probably not have occurred if there wasn’t a pair of eyes on the scene of the crime.
AJ’s activities made waves in South Africa in late 2024 when a clip from his drone went viral online, showing multiple smash-and-grab incidents along a single road.
In the video, the perpetrator can be seen scanning cars from the side of the road, looking for easy targets.
Once a car is selected, he walks up to the car and snatches a phone out of a motorist’s hand through an open window before running away.
In the same video, the person is seen throwing rocks to smash another car’s windows to grab what he can before retreating into the nearby township.
This footage was delivered to the SAPS, who were able to track down the suspect thanks to the identifying clothing seen in the video.
AJ claimed that he had seen a marked reduction in the number of smash-and-grab complaints on the roads he monitors since he started flying his drone.
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