Nearly 13 000 suspects arrested for various crimes in 2023, thanks to LEAP
The Western Cape’s Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) officers arrested close to 13 000 suspects for various crimes in 2023. According to figures from the Western Cape’s Department of Police Oversight & Community Safety, majority of arrests were due to being in possession of dangerous weapons and dealing in drugs. LEAP officers, which stems from the Western Cape Safety Plan(WCSP), work alongside other law enforcement agencies, such as City of Cape Town, Metro Police and SAPS. Officers are deployed in crime hotspot areas in the metro, including, Delft, Gugulethu, Harare, Khayelitsha (Site B policing precinct), Kraaifontein, Mfuleni, Mitchells Plain, Nyanga, Philippi East, and Samora Machel. Other high crime areas in which they are deployed are Atlantis, Bishop Lavis and Hanover Park, along with Lavender Hill, Steenberg and Grassy Park. For the month of December 2023, LEAP officers arrested 1 103 suspects for various crimes – an increase of 150 from November. Between 4 and
