The City of Cape Town this week announced that 800 law enforcement officers including traffic police will be equipped with bodycams, while 290 service vehicles will be fitted with dashcams featuring Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology before the end of the 2023/2024 financial year.
These devices are widely used around the world and have shown tremendous success in recording police interactions and catching criminals on the loose, said Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis during a demonstration of the new technologies in Goodwood on Wednesday, 30 August.
In the next three years, the systems will be standard across all the City’s safety and security services, forming part of an R860 million safety technology investment.
“We’ve already seen the game-changing ability of the ANPR dashcams piloted in our new Highway Patrol Unit launched last year. Based on these learnings, we’re now rolling out cutting-edge in-vehicle cameras across our vehicles,” said Hill-Lewis.
“Together with body-worn cameras, this will massively enhance situational awareness and the quality of evidence gathering to ensure more convictions.”
This is the first time bodycams and ANPR dashcams will be deployed at this scale for a government agency in South Africa, according to the mayor.
Cape Town Highway Patrol
A safer city
Cape Town has committed a massive R860 million over the next three years to improve safety in the city and for its public servants.
The investment includes:
- R10 million on gunshot location tech
- R22 million on drones
- R109 million for aerial surveillance
- R118 million on dash and bodycams
- R118.4 million on CCTV
- R442 million on licence plate recognition, EPIC digital coordination, radios, comms systems, IT, and network upgrades
Speaking on the launch of the body and ANPR dashcams, Hill-Lewis said there are many advantages in deploying these technologies across its safety services.
Not only will bodycams build trust and accountability in municipal law enforcement agencies and discourage corruption, but they will also enhance officer safety by increasing situational awareness and serving as a deterrent to potential perpetrators of assault on officers, according to the mayor.
Furthermore, the cameras will act as a safeguard for the public and city staff, particularly in situations where claims are made against them.
“Now with this additional form of evidence, courts can instantly rule on matters, having to not only rely on a ‘single version of the truth.’,” said the mayor.
“In turn, this will greatly impact the prosecution process and conviction rate of matters brought to trial.”
ANPR dashcams have also proved vital to the success of the highway patrol pilot project, assisting in identifying stolen vehicles, those involved in criminal activities, and motorists with outstanding warrants.
“The full rollout of an in-vehicle camera solution will now enable officers to record evidence of incidents as they happen, while also streaming live video to the control rooms for enhanced situational awareness of critical incidents,” said Hill-Lewis.
“Digital evidence is vital in the prosecution of offenders, and we are expecting the body-worn cameras on officers to provide crucial footage that can be used in court, ensuring a higher rate of successful convictions.”
The City is also establishing a memorandum of best practices that are guided by the help of experts from across the globe including the International Association of Chief’s of Police (IACP), Thames Valley Police, Bavarian Police, Fairfax County Police, and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.
“The aim is to keep on gradually rolling out this advanced equipment to help with the apprehension and conviction of offenders and enhance overall safety in Cape Town,” said Alderman JP Smith, Mayoral Committee member for Safety and Security.
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