UCT gets 10 new patrol vehicles to help boost campus safety

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Cape Town - Security at UCT has received a boost with the addition of 10 new patrol vehicles. UCT spokesperson Elijah Moholola said the new branded vehicles would operate on campus and its fringes and patrol strategic routes to maintain visibility, and allow Campus Protection Services (CPS) officers quicker response times. “The officers will also continue to patrol other areas across campus to maintain maximum visibility,” Moholola said. CPS manager Don Smith said: “These new vehicles will certainly make us more visible and increase our response capability to criminal and medical incidents.” Moholola said: “The vehicles have been fitted with tracking devices, and will be equipped with an electronic patrol device to ensure that certain critical areas are checked regularly.” He said further fittings would include dash cameras to record patrolled areas, and equipment to deal with medical emergencies, minor fires, traffic control in the event of accidents and other dangerous situations students and staff might face.

“CPS officers on foot patrol, for whom these vehicles will also be critical support components, will undergo training to deal with all types of incidents and emergencies.”

Moholola said CPS planned to install licence plate recognition cameras in the vehicles. “As UCT is an open campus, this will assist CPS to pick up any vehicles flagged by the police, strengthening the fight against crime beyond the university.”

UCT Student Representative Council (SRC) chairperson Akha Tutu welcomed UCT's attempt to keep the students safe, “as that is their prerogative to do so. However, we do not endorse the institution's extravagant spending on vehicles that amount to R300 000 per vehicle while students are struggling to get funding so as to register. We reject that entirely.”

UCT's DA Students Organisation chairperson Luke Albert also welcomed the efforts to improve the safety on campus, and said since the general decline in safety has been a major point of concern. “We hope that this initiative sets a precedent of continual improvements in safety.”

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