City sends 275 suspects to the cells

Outstanding warrants and drunk driving dominated arrest statistics, as officers recorded another massive enforcement week.

The City’s Traffic Officers made 238 arrests, impounded 99 sedan and minibus taxis, 129 cellphones and issued 44 100 fines.

Among those arrested were 102 suspects for driving under the influence, 70 for outstanding warrants and 17 for reckless and negligent driving.

Officers also released a whopping 1 000 motorists on a warning for outstanding warrants, and executed 3 079 warrants.

Their Metro Police counterparts made 37 arrests, taking the week’s tally to 275.

Their successes included 22 drunk driving arrests, with one motorist slapped with additional charges of fraud and bribery. The 38-year-old suspect was one of eight motorists arrested for drunk driving at a roadblock in Hout Bay on Sunday, 27 October 2019. Officers then noticed that he had a fraudulent license disc and when confronted with this information, the suspect offered the officer R500 to look the other way, but his attempt at bribery fell flat.

Officers also made 12 drug-related arrests, two suspects for distributing films illegally and one suspect for attempted theft out of a motor vehicle.

‘Our staff continue to rack up hundreds of arrests each week, for the same offences, and avoidable ones at that. The reality is that, if people abide by the law, they won’t be fined. Even if they are fined, timeous payment can prevent ending up behind bars for outstanding warrants. The same goes for drunk driving. It’s simple just don’t do it,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.

Other departments within the City’s Safety and Security Directorate too had a busy weekend, due to the inclement weather, which resulted in a number of motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) and localised flooding. At least 53 MVAs were reported just to the Traffic Service Control Centre.

The City’s Disaster Risk Management coordinated the City’s response to flooded roads and informal settlements, facilitating the delivery of sand and flood kits to residents, and humanitarian relief from the South African Social Service Agency.

‘Then of course the Fire and Rescue Service and other City services were put on standby, following numerous requests to avail fireworks sites for Diwali. The feedback from the department is that no one arrived at the Bishop Lavis and Sarepta sites, and that there were only a few cars that arrived at the Athlone Stadium site. It’s not clear how big a factor the weather was, but considering the furore in the last few weeks, one would have expected a different outcome to what our staff experienced,’ added Alderman Smith.

Source: City Of Cape Town

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