Easter arrests in Cape Town increase compared to last year

It was a busy long weekend for City of Cape Town law enforcement, which registered an increase in arrests compared with the corresponding period last year.

City law enforcement made 361 arrests, up from 332 last year, and issued 72,465 fines.

Drunk driving arrests showed a slight decline, down to 80 from 89 last year.

However, public emergency call-outs increased to 2,294, up from 2,012 last year.

“Among the calls received were 211 incidents of assault, 33 domestic violence cases, 54 motor vehicle accidents and 21 pedestrian vehicle accidents,” the city said on Tuesday.

“By comparison in 2022, staff recorded 159 assaults, 37 domestic violence incidents, 37 motor vehicle accidents and 24 pedestrian vehicle accidents.”

Mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith said the figures spoke to greater vigilance on the part of city law enforcement officers.

“What’s positive is that many of our statistical indicators are reliant on proactive enforcement, so the increase in arrests week-on-week, but also compared to the week of Easter last year, speaks to the efforts of our staff when many of us were enjoying some downtime,” Smith said.

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