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Lamborghinis and Mercedes Benz's for Cape Town cops???
Cape suggests bringing cops up to speed
By Lindsay Dentlinger
It would be unkind to suggest that the city's traffic officers are slow. But when you consider that their counterparts give chase in Lamborghinis in Italy, souped up Mercedes-Benz's in Germany and V8 muscle cars in the US, it makes the local speed cops look decidedly "Driving Miss Daisy".
Acting executive director of safety and security Heathcliff Thomas told the City of Cape Town on Thursday that the city's fleet paled in comparison to those in world-class cities.
He told the council's portfolio committee on safety and security that while Germany's traffic officers drove the world's fastest legal sedan - the Mercedes Brabus CLS Rocket with a top speed of 360km per hour - Cape Town's traffic officers had to make do with ordinary Japanese-made sedans.
Several European cities had Porsche 911 Carreras in their fleet, capable of going from 0km per hour to 100km per hour in four seconds. The city's officers managed a comparative 13,5 seconds in their "fastest cars".
The traffic department's fastest vehicles are Honda motorcycles. It is still waiting for delivery of three Volkswagen Golf GTIs.
In Thomas's slide presentation, the committee saw that countries such as Italy and Britain used the Lamborghini Gallardos; V8 Dodges and Chevrolets, Corvettes and Mustangs were the vehicles of choice in the US; Canadian traffic cops drove S-type Jaguars and Japan preferred the Nissan Skyline GTI R.
Initially shocked by suggestions that the city should consider acquiring a couple of these vehicles, the DA and ANC caucuses gradually warmed to the idea.
Committee chairperson JP Smith said the vehicles could form part of an incentive programme for local traffic officers.
"We may not be able to pay them top-notch salaries, but we can give them hope and make them feel like they are working with tools of the trade akin to world-class equipment."
Metro Police Chief Bongani Jonas said the Metro Police in Johannesburg enjoyed the use of top-of-the-range BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes, acquired through lease agreements.
The newest cars in the City of Cape Town's traffic department are Nissan Tiidas.
The DA's Pieter van Dalen scoffed at the idea of acquiring a sports car or two, saying the cars would not last and would be "smashed around Hospital Bend".
But the ANC's Depoutch Elese reckoned that criminals would realise that "the city means business" if they chased druglords in a sports car.
The NPP's Jameelah Daniels didn't think "faster was necessarily better", while the ID's Aubrey Robinson questioned whether they would also stand idle around the Paul Sauer Building (the Metro Police HQ), as was the case with other traffic vehicles.
The committee agreed, upon Smith's suggestion, that the city would enter into discussions with motor dealers as to whether they would be prepared to hire or sponsor such vehicles to the council.
* This article was originally published on page 1 of The Cape Argus on August 08, 2008
The Argus
Published on the Web by IOL on 2008-08-08 12:06:00
© Independent Online 2005. All rights reserved. IOL publishes this article in good faith but is not liable for any loss or damage caused by reliance on the information it contains.
Cape suggests bringing cops up to speed
By Lindsay Dentlinger
It would be unkind to suggest that the city's traffic officers are slow. But when you consider that their counterparts give chase in Lamborghinis in Italy, souped up Mercedes-Benz's in Germany and V8 muscle cars in the US, it makes the local speed cops look decidedly "Driving Miss Daisy".
Acting executive director of safety and security Heathcliff Thomas told the City of Cape Town on Thursday that the city's fleet paled in comparison to those in world-class cities.
He told the council's portfolio committee on safety and security that while Germany's traffic officers drove the world's fastest legal sedan - the Mercedes Brabus CLS Rocket with a top speed of 360km per hour - Cape Town's traffic officers had to make do with ordinary Japanese-made sedans.
Several European cities had Porsche 911 Carreras in their fleet, capable of going from 0km per hour to 100km per hour in four seconds. The city's officers managed a comparative 13,5 seconds in their "fastest cars".
The traffic department's fastest vehicles are Honda motorcycles. It is still waiting for delivery of three Volkswagen Golf GTIs.
In Thomas's slide presentation, the committee saw that countries such as Italy and Britain used the Lamborghini Gallardos; V8 Dodges and Chevrolets, Corvettes and Mustangs were the vehicles of choice in the US; Canadian traffic cops drove S-type Jaguars and Japan preferred the Nissan Skyline GTI R.
Initially shocked by suggestions that the city should consider acquiring a couple of these vehicles, the DA and ANC caucuses gradually warmed to the idea.
Committee chairperson JP Smith said the vehicles could form part of an incentive programme for local traffic officers.
"We may not be able to pay them top-notch salaries, but we can give them hope and make them feel like they are working with tools of the trade akin to world-class equipment."
Metro Police Chief Bongani Jonas said the Metro Police in Johannesburg enjoyed the use of top-of-the-range BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes, acquired through lease agreements.
The newest cars in the City of Cape Town's traffic department are Nissan Tiidas.
The DA's Pieter van Dalen scoffed at the idea of acquiring a sports car or two, saying the cars would not last and would be "smashed around Hospital Bend".
But the ANC's Depoutch Elese reckoned that criminals would realise that "the city means business" if they chased druglords in a sports car.
The NPP's Jameelah Daniels didn't think "faster was necessarily better", while the ID's Aubrey Robinson questioned whether they would also stand idle around the Paul Sauer Building (the Metro Police HQ), as was the case with other traffic vehicles.
The committee agreed, upon Smith's suggestion, that the city would enter into discussions with motor dealers as to whether they would be prepared to hire or sponsor such vehicles to the council.
* This article was originally published on page 1 of The Cape Argus on August 08, 2008
The Argus
Published on the Web by IOL on 2008-08-08 12:06:00
© Independent Online 2005. All rights reserved. IOL publishes this article in good faith but is not liable for any loss or damage caused by reliance on the information it contains.
