Nelson Mandela Bay executive mayor, Athol Trollip, opened the Bloemendal Metro Police Precinct on Wednesday.
The precinct, situated next to the Chatty Community Centre, would serve as a base for the Metro police force as the fight against gangsterism and drugs continues in the city's northern areas.
In a statement the Municipality said that the opening of the Metro Police Precinct followed a promise made by Trollip at the Metro Police passing-out Parade held in March this year, “that the Northern Areas would be a one of the focus areas for the Metro Police, working under the wing of the South African Police Services.”
According to Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, 55 Metro Police Officers would work from the Bloemendal precinct.
“They will launch their own crime-fighting initiatives, enforce municipal bylaws, set up road blocks focusing on vehicle and driver fitness, and undertake joint crime-fighting operations with the SAPS and government entities, like Home Affairs”.
"This is a historic occasion. We are here to stop crime. These communities have been suffering for too long. We are opening this fully fledged facility in a crime hot-spot, where people, including children, have lost their lives in senseless gangster wars," said Trollip.
"We embarked on an intensive Integrated Development Plan (IDP) where our community made it clear to us that they want a safe and caring City. That is a commitment we have made, and we must deliver on that," the Executive Mayor said.
The Municipality said that a similar Metro Police Precinct will be opened in Uitenhage, KwaNobuhle, with more are expected to be opened across the Metro in the next three to five years.
A community member, Boet Broad, said that the community had “promised to build a strong partnership with the Metro Police so that the Metro Police, working with South African Police Services can make the Metro a safer place."
