Business Against Crime South Africa (BACSA), working in partnership with the South African Police Service (SAPS), and other law enforcement agencies through its initiative called Eyes and Ears (E2) have nabbed over 1,900 suspects, impounded more than 2,000 vehicles valued between R100 million and R300 million, and seized over 300 illegal firearms in the past year.

Dr Graham Wright, the Chief Executive Officer of BACSA announced the successes they made on October 27, in Johannesburg.

The E2 Initiative, is a collaboration between BACSA and police, which leverages geographical reach and resources of the Private Security Industry (PSI) and other approved organisations to provide critical situational awareness and crime information to support the SAPS in combating crime.

“The E2 Initiative is designed to enhance collaboration between the PSI, the broader business community and the SAPS,” Wright said.

“Some of the significant milestones achieved in the last 12 months include the arrest of over 1,900 suspects, representing a 235% increase compared to the previous year.”

Wright said the initiative also impounded more than 2,000 vehicles, with estimated value between R100 million and R300 million, which was an increase of 109%, and seized over 300 illegal firearms, a 440% increase in recoveries.

He attributed the achievements to the real-time communication between the guard patrols, patrol vehicles, escort services and other various forms of air support and PSI control centres.

“These real-time reports are often in close proximity to where the incidents, crime hotspots, or crime scenes are happening and the information, in turn, is then submitted by the approved E2 companies to the SAPS Provincial Operational Command Centres (POCC),” Wright said.

“This then enables the SAPS to assess the situation and then to respond swiftly and effectively to the reported incident. This extension of crime intelligence, provided by the E2 companies, helps the SAPS deploy resources quickly and efficiently,” Wright said.

He said the POCCs operate as a 24-hour command centre managed by the Extended Core Command Group (ECCG) and the Core Command Group (CCG), serving as a centralised point for collecting intelligence and coordinating multi-disciplinary teams to pro-actively and reactively respond to incidents.

Wright added that the initiative has also played a pivotal role in preventing numerous crimes and mitigating the impacts of unrest across the country.

He said the expanded role in rural safety and upcoming elections were a testament to the Initiative’s effectiveness. Ministerial Task Team for Rural Safety has designated the E2 Initiative as a critical initiative for improving rural safety.

“The E2 has already been successfully implemented in several rural districts, with its model of situational information sharing and rapid response proving invaluable in these areas.”

He said another one was growing membership, which has grown by 15% compared to the previous year including 384 organisation members.

“This expanding network continues to strengthen the collaborative efforts between the private and public sectors, enhancing the Initiative’s ability to prevent crime and ensure greater public safety,” he added.

“As BACSA, we will focus our future efforts on expanding the footprint and reach of the E2 Initiative, as well as broadening the number of new approved E2 members across the country.

“The E2 Initiative has demonstrated its value as the most successful public-private crime-fighting initiative in South Africa’s history. We believe that it will continue to grow and our success will reflect the strength of the collaboration between BACSA, SAPS, and the PSI,” he said.

Wright urged companies in the PSI and other organisations to apply for membership by visiting the website (https://e2.bac.org.za/) to apply.

IOL News

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