If you happen to hear the sound of a helicopter bolting overhead while you’re visiting the beach this holiday season, you can feel a little safer as the City has put a new helicopter patrol system in place to give bathers piece of mind.
This festive season has proven a particularly challenging one for the Mother City, with some of the highest numbers of fatal drownings and dangerous ocean related incidents taking place, but the City is not giving up on keeping locals and visitors safe.
To better ensure higher levels of safety and shorten response times, Metro Police will be taking to the sky with a newly contracted helicopter each day.
Helicopter patrols will now form part of the City’s latest attempts to keep beach-goers safe as they enjoy all the beauty Cape Town’s beaches have to offer.
According to Mayco member JP Smith, daily patrols from the sky will now better monitor beaches and help to reduce the time it takes for police to respond to not only drowning incidents but also those involved in criminal activity.
“We contracted the helicopter for some hours over the festive season to be able to go out and respond to incidents on the ground. We were able to respond to several incidents almost every day that we were out; we’ve actually found the helicopter to be extremely useful,” he told EWN.
Cape Town’s beaches have experienced an increase in criminal activity with a number of fatal stabbing incidents taking place in the Clifton area especially over the past few months. As residents feel less safe on the beaches, the City is doing all they can to support locals and restore a sense of safety threatened by these harrowing occurrences.
Three routes will be continuously patrolled until January next year and will include visits to Strandfontein, Mnandi, Muizenberg and Strand beach.
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