Former MMCs of public safety in the City of Johannesburg believe the establishment of a stronger unit in the JMPD and addressing crime with limited resources at their disposal could be a step in the right direction.
This is the sentiment of David Tembe and Michael Sun who have both previously led the city's public safety portfolio.
This follows new mayor Dada Morero's retracted suggestion that the city might consider recruiting qualified and properly documented foreigners into the JMPD to help with bridging the language barriers which frustrate police when investigating crimes involving foreigners.
While some hailed the proposal, the former MMC Tembe, who was JMPD police chief before his stint at public safety, said the real problem was that police were using what he termed a fishnet to fight crime.
They go and surround innocent people, irritating them, instead of using what we call a spear to target suspects, for example, who are dealing in drugs. You need to have specialised units like in New York for different types of crimes, he said.
