World first for Port Elizabeth Flying Squad
World first for Port Elizabeth Flying Squad
CRIMINALS in the Eastern Cape were served high-performance notices yesterday that three of the world’s most technically advanced police cars would be hunting them down from today.
And they would be recording every second of the action to beat the lawbreakers.
The 245km/h cars – valued at a total of about R1,2-million – were handed over to the local Flying Squad by General Motors South Africa as part of its ongoing programme to combat crime and “make Port Elizabeth a safer place in which to live and work”.
The latest additions take the Flying Squad’s fleet from five to eight vehicles. The equipment – including six on-board cameras, wireless computer communication and four audio channels – for the Saab 2,8-litre V6 Aero models – was provided by Panasonic. Lights, sirens and radio equipment were fitted by the police radio technical unit at Mount Road.
Panasonic regional managing director Brett Howell said the equipment, fitted locally, had been specially provided by the company in Japan and the three Flying Squad Saabs would be the first among any international police force to go on patrol using the technology.
“The police car system – called the Arbitrator Mark Two – is scheduled to be fitted into patrol vehicles in the US only later this month and is undergoing approval in Europe, so the PE Flying Squad cars are a world first.”
Squad operational commander Captain Rassie Erasmus said the new cars would be a huge asset to the city’s anti-crime effort. “The drivers can’t wait to get on the road with the Saabs – they’re spectacular and wonderfully equipped.
“As with all our squad drivers, the officers behind the wheels of the Saabs have passed a national high-speed, advanced drivers’ course, held in Benoni.”
And Erasmus joked to squad members: “Remember, we can check your speeds at all times through the satellite navigation systems fitted as standard equipment, so don’t try sprinting from robot to robot.”
The Swedish-built Saabs have a top speed of 245km/h and accelerate from 0-100km/h in just over seven seconds.
GMSA president Steve Koch said the presentation of the high-performance cars was aimed at enabling the crack police unit to respond more swiftly to priority crimes.
The company had already presented eight Opel Corsa pick-ups – each retailing at about R100000 – to neighbourhood watches in the city as part of its existing I-Patrol anti-crime programme.
Mount Road police cluster commander Dawie Rabie said the Saabs would take the Flying Squad’s fleet from five to eight vehicles.
“The unit has to attend to high-priority incidents, like cash-in-transit heists, armed robberies and hijackings all over the city,” said Assistant Commissioner Rabie. He said statistics for last year showed that the PE Flying Squad had attended to 9874 complaints, made 600 arrests and recovered 503 stolen vehicles.
http://www.epherald.co.za/article.aspx?id=473190
