Cape Town has unveiled its own specialised special weapons and tactics (SWAT) and aerial surveillance policing units.

The SWAT unit will provide highly-skilled support for serious crime and high-risk incidents beyond conventional policing, while the Metro Police Aviation Unit will focus on aerial surveillance in aid of combating crime.

“The city will continue doing whatever it takes to make Cape Town safer, and will stop at nothing to build our resources and powers, because that is what the public deserves and needs,” says Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.

“These highly-skilled SWAT and aerial surveillance units form part of our broader safety investments, including over 1 300 new city police officers added in this term of office, a new Highway Patrol unit, major safety technology rollout, and a new state-of-the-art digital nerve centre to coordinate all city policing operations.

“The city’s growing policing capacity clearly shows that our officers are ready for expanded powers, especially to investigate gang, gun and drug crime.”

Hill-Lewis adds that there has been a 35% increase in South African Police Service’s (SAPS’s) requests to view the city’s footage for the purpose of police investigations over the last year.

“This increases the chances of successful convictions as we work to expand our digital coordination and safety technology network.”

Unit Expertise
Cape Town’s new SWAT unit will provide support for combatting gang-related activity and extortion; executing high-risk warrants of arrest; hostage and barricaded suspects’ support to SAPS; as well as security at high-profile events.

City of Cape Town Safety and Security MMC JP Smith says the unit is equipped with a specialised armoured vehicle, modern firearms and other advanced technology, such as night vision and heat detection.

“SWAT team members have extensive SAPS Special Task Force experience, and are also supporting the city’s training college to develop a detailed curriculum for future growth and continuity in this critical metro policing capacity.”

The Metro Police Aviation Unit includes officers with pilot certification; four types of aircraft for different operational needs; as well as specialised vehicles with connectivity, off-grid power and external monitors.

The unit will provide support to crime hotspot patrols; crowd and event policing; suspect tracking and surveillance; search and rescue; and land protection monitoring.

Detection is enhanced by thermal and zoom cameras, with AI-assisted tracking and laser rangefinder to pinpoint the location of suspects and activity in wooded areas or across rooftops, for example.

A live overhead picture is streamed to control centres, which helps to direct and protect officers on the ground.

High-resolution imagery and scene-mapping also document evidence to support case dockets.

The unit can also provide a visible aerial presence to deter crime, including loudspeaker messaging and night-spotlight.

“Air support is a force multiplier, widening what officers can see and shortening the time to a confident, safe decision,” says Smith.

“We have seen that drone flights and surveillance support early crime-fighting successes and arrests.”

The new specialised units will operate under the watchful eye of the Joint Policing Services Operational Centre (JPSOC).

JPSOC – now in the final stages of operationalisation – is Cape Town’s new digital nerve centre that will integrate all the city’s policing resources and safety technologies.

These technologies include drones, operated through the city’s Aviation Unit as well as third-party service providers; body-worn cameras; in-vehicle cameras; and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology.

The city says its bodycam deployment will soon reach 3 000 cameras in the field, while 530 enforcement vehicles have in-vehicle cameras with ANPR functionality and printers for issuing warrants and summons.