Drone technology will soon aid in the fight against crime in the Cape Town. The City is planning to incorporate drone into the crime-fighting regime.
Cape Town will become the first municipality in the country to use drone technology to aid in crime-fighting as long as the city gets the go-ahead from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
“To our knowledge, there are no other municipalities in the country that are using drones or investigating the use of drones. Cape Town would be one of the first municipalities to undertake such an initiative,” said mayoral committee member for safety and security, JP Smith to IOL.
Staff have already been sent for training. According to JP Smith however, it may be a year before the Mother City will start to benefit from this new initiative.
The use of this new technology will allow the City to keep an eye on a number of areas across Cape Town. It will also allow the City to be better prepared for incidences of crime which take place in more secluded areas, like hiking trails as well as cable theft hot spots.
Smith confirmed that the City has spent more than R500 000 on drones so far, which will soon be used in pre and post operations around the city.
“Drones will be deployed as seen fit by the safety directorate within the legal parameters stipulated. The City of Cape Town staff will be tested by the CAA, which will be the final phase for staff to get their pilot’s licences. The horticultural area in Philippi, where many incidents of cable theft have been reported, has been earmarked for monitoring.”
The drones will allow for easy and mobile monitoring and will be remotely piloted by trained individuals. The technology will be used for a number of crime spectrums from poaching to theft and even research and filming.
SANParks has recently deployed 120 new rangers to better ensure the safety of visitors to the Table Mountain National Park. Since this announcement, a number of locals have felt it would be better to use drone technology to monitor these area and ensure the safety of the public.
The City is listening to the public and moving forward with plans that could change the dangerous state of popular hiking trails everywhere.
Picture: Pexels