40 new hot hatches to keep Joburg safe
MARTINDALE – Metro police will not be outrun by criminals using high-performance getaway cars.
They’re new, they’re fast, they’re reliable and they have to keep the streets of Johannesburg safe. The MMC of Public Safety, councillor Michael Sun, was proud to hand over 40 new, high-performance vehicles to Metro police’s Special Patrol Unit (SPU).
MMC Sun was joined by the Speaker of Council, Vasco Da Gama, the chairperson of the Section 79 Committee, Hilton Masera, and other councillors and officials as the new Volkswagen Golf GTIs were formally handed over on 14 October at the JMPD head office in Martindale. Sun explained why they opted to go with these cars as opposed to cheaper alternatives, “We are not going to be outrun by criminals driving powerful vehicles.”
Sun explained that criminals are committing crimes in high-performance vehicles which the standard metro patrol vehicles could struggle to keep up with. He added that Metro officers should be fully equipped to adequately deal with any criminality it is faced with. Their vehicles need to be safe and reliable in order to support them during their high-risk work.
According to the MMC, the new vehicles will be utilised by the unit in its daily tasks ranging from attending to accident scenes, rapid deployment to crime scenes, land invasions, dealing with road traffic offences at identified hotspots, visible policing, patrols and events management, among others.
Sun explained that there hasn’t been a fleet replacement in the last five for this unit. “The last fleet replacement for the Metro police SPU was five years ago, these new vehicles will certainly play an integral part in ensuring the safety of our residents.”
The delivery and handover complement the 87 new vehicles that were received in July this year for the Metro Freeway Unit. Sun stated that the department will continue to replace and maintain aged and broken vehicles so Metro police can fulfil their duties to the residents of Johannesburg.
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