The Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department will have an equal number of officers on the streets day and night in a new shift system‚ announced by Chief of Police David Tembe on Wednesday.

Tembe said the JMPD and the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) signed an agreement which will see officers work four days in a row and taking four days off‚ from July 1.

Previously‚ the shift system had been a cause of concern for officers who found themselves working up to 16 days without rest. The new system will see officers doing 12-hour shifts from 6am to 6pm and another batch of officers starting at 6pm until 6am.

Tembe said the JMPD had 3.700 operational officers‚ including 1,500 trainees. He said the shift system will see 900 officers working the day shift and 900 working the night shift. At present‚ the JMPD has a skeleton night staff of about 100 officers.