ANOTHER weekend in Nelson Mandela Bay has seen shoot-ing and gang fights erupting in the metro’s northern areas.
Cops are at their wits’ end and don’t know how to bust faceless thugs who are terrorising the local communities.
But help is at hand – the municipality is going hi-tech to deal with criminals.
Mayor Athol Trollip said the municipality had signed a memorandum of understanding with a supplier to use Shot Spotter technology to combat gang violence.
“Piloted in Cape Town, the gun shot
detection technology immediately notifies nearby police agencies of gunshots in a specific area so police can be dispatched to the exact location,” he said.
“The technology will be installed at
secret locations and will be jointly monitored by the Metro police and the SAPS. It could see illegal use of firearms and associated violence drastically reduced.
“It will allow for analysis of shooting
patterns to inform policing operations. In the first three months of the Shot Spotter in Manenberg, Cape Town, the number of incidents dropped from 211 to 31.”
Police spokeswoman Colonel Priscilla Naidu said seven victims aged between nine and 26 were wounded during a
shooting incident outside a supermarket in Bethelsdorp on Saturday night.
He also called on Police Minister, Fikile Mbalula, to come and witness first-hand the situation in parts of Port Elizabeth.
“Perhaps then the Minister will grasp the urgency required in deploying additional resources and constructing at least one new police station,” Trollip said.
The injured were taken to hospital.
