The City of Cape Town’s Metro Police College provides night school training for Law Enforcement volunteers which allows for opportunities to equip participants with knowledge and specialised skills in crime prevention. This boosts the City’s capability to do more in creating safer communities.
The City's Metro Police Department provides this valuable training programme during evenings as volunteers work during the day. Since the inception of the programme 400 volunteers successfully completed the training.
The training offered to Law Enforcement volunteers includes the following:
Peace officer and traffic warden training
Basic Firearm training in Shotgun and Handgun handling
Tactical street survival training
Docket and statement procedures
Stop and approach training
Powers and duties of peace officers and traffic wardens
Child Justice Act; and
National Road Traffic Act and relevant by-laws
In addition to the above training areas, physical fitness and tactical street survival training are included in the programme. Upon completion of the programme the volunteers receive an accredited Peace Officer and Traffic Warden Qualification.
'This night school training will help us do more to speed up the deployment of more officers. In the 2022/23 financial year, we are implementing a record R5,4bn safety budget, with 230 additional officers being employed this year, and meaningful investments in crime-fighting technology. All of this is done with the safety of all residents in mind and we will continue working to create safer communities for you. We have also set up a petition on our website to encourage residents to support our proposal to devolve policing powers to the City,' said Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.
The night school training not only allows for knowledge sharing and training it also increases the City's enforcement volunteer base which is important in providing much needed safety and security related services to the community.
A highlight of the programme is tactical training as it is physically intense and demanding. Volunteers also experience tactical training as extremely valuable which can make a big difference in real life scenarios. One volunteer who successfully completed the training contacted a senior Tactical Trainer and reported that he had found himself in a situation where they were shot at and immediately took cover and were ready to respond.
'The additional training programme is important as it allows for opportunities to equip volunteers with the necessary skill set needed in a demanding enforcement environment. Volunteers are confronted with the same challenges and dangerous situations as enforcement staff. We are extremely grateful that volunteers are willing to give up their free time to be trained. Some of these community members give up more than 100 hours a month volunteering their services to support our efforts in making communities safer. One way to acknowledge the important role of our volunteers is to offer them the best training that the City can provide,' said Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.
The City's Safety and Security Directorate plans to increase the training capacity at the college to at least 200 volunteers on an annual basis.
Source: City Of Cape Town