Police management says gangsters in Port Elizabeth's Northern Areas are "feeling the pressure" as Operation Lockdown moves into the next phase.
And, according to Deputy National Police Commissioner, Lieutenant-General Gary Kruser, more significant arrests will be made in the coming months.
Kruser, who's responsible for management intervention, was in Port Elizabeth Thursday to pay tribute to the 170 members who will be replaced by a new batch of officers for the next phase of Operation Lockdown.
Since the operation was launched in March to address crime and gangsterism in the Northern Areas police said 388 arrests were made for murder, attempted murder and the possession of illegal firearms. Quantities of illicit drugs like Tik and dagga were seized while a large quantity of prescription medication was also seized during various operations.
A range of firearms, including a machine gun, were also seized while worryingly police also confiscated two hand grenades during the first phase of Operation Lockdown.
Speaking to the media after presenting certificates to the SAPS members Kruser said at the outset they set very clear objectives for the first phase of Operation Lockdown which ran from March to June.
"One of the first was to change the narrative around the issue of gangs in the Northern Areas, that the community feels that the police are there to support them and protect them...One of the first objectives, to stop the random shootings in the area itself and I think to a large extent we've achieved relative calmness in terms of general random shooting," he said.
Kruser said while Operation Lockdown is continuing, Gauteng police commissioner, Lieutenant-General Lesetja Mothiba, was busy with the "issue of normalisation at stations (and with) the recovery plan to ensure that we improve the quality of services we give the community on a daily basis."
He said improving services to communities entails anwering phones correctly, investigating cases thoroughly and building proper relationships and partnerships with different organisations.
"There's two processes. While we busy with the hard policing with specialised units, normal policing is continuing and we're trying to improve. We think on the first phase we managed to cover a lot of ground. I'm satisfied," Kruser said.
"Now we set ourselves very clear and new objectives which we want to carry out in the next phase. We are looking at a number of arrests to take place. Our detectives are moving strong (sic) through the dockets, the NPA is doing an excellent job with dedicated prosecutors working with our detectives to guide us on these cases. As you see we've got good convictions," Kruser said.
"The model of what we are doing here is a model I think that we can use around the country," he added.
General Kruser also paid tribute to local communities for their assistance saying gaining the trust of the community remains crucial.
"The feedback we get from communities through SMS's, phone calls and emails shows that I think the community is appreciative of what we are doing. We're also getting a lot of information from communities which is very positive and which we have not been receiving previously," he said.
"Some of the arrests we would not have made without the support of the community itself so I think it's critical that community continues to support what we are trying to do and it's our job to ensure that they are safe," said General Kruser.
