Crime fighters ready to rumble at Riverside Park
According to Scholle, the crime rate dropped by 25 per cent shortly after the initial installation and has consistently remained significantly below Mbombela's norm for the past three years
MBOMBELA – On Thursday morning representatives of various security companies made their presence felt with their show of force at Riverside Park as more than 40 branded response vehicles patrolled the area.
Hi-Tech Security Nelspruit, J&M Security, Fidelity, J&M Naspoti as well as the SAPS with the Hi-Tech Security medical emergency team, wound their way through Mbombela’s thriving city-improvement district (CID), leaving those who lived, worked, shopped and played there, in no doubt that Riverside Park was a secure stronghold.
The area is monitored 24/7, 365 days a year by cameras that feed into the Riverside Park control room, plus bicycle patrols, and boasts the most sophisticated licence plate recognition (LPR) system available.”Security is a priority for Riverside Park residents and business owners,” said Ms Renate Scholle, CID manager of Riverside Park.”We chose a state-of-the-art security system supported by an independent Motorola Wi-Fi network and multiple CCTV and LPR cameras.
“The system is secure and reliable and it’s delivered exactly what it promised. We now have a real-time data feed from the cameras to our control room 24 hours a day. Security-related incidents can be assessed remotely and the most appropriate response can be decided before security personnel are deployed.”
According to Scholle, the crime rate dropped by 25 per cent shortly after the initial installation and has consistently remained significantly below Mbombela’s norm for the past three years. Apart from the surveillance system, Riverside Park is further enhanced by means of an active security committee.
It is made up of senior representatives of each private security company operational in the precinct as well as traffic and SAPS officials.”We meet once a month. It’s a fantastic and a pretty powerful platform for addressing common security issues and acting on them collectively,” she said.
The early morning show of force ended at Wimpy The Grove where security personnel were treated to a complimentary cup of the restaurant’s famous coffee.
