Western Cape police stations have 804 fewer police officers than they had five years ago.

This was revealed by police management in response to a question from Reagen Allen, the former DA spokesperson on community safety, now MEC, in March.

According to the police, about 71% of the province’s 151 police stations have seen a drop in the number of cops allocated to them.

Deployment at Cape Town central police station fell from 525 to 425, at Belhar from 103 to 94, at Lingelethu West from 40 to 34 and at Oudtshoorn from 310 to 286.

This week, Ricardo Mackenzie, the DA Western Cape acting spokesperson on community safety, criticised the reductions.

“These numbers once again highlight the under-resourcing we face in the Western Cape in terms of the allocations towards our crime-fighting efforts,” he said.

“When reading the police officer deployments in conjunction with the latest recorded crime statistics between October and December 2021, a number of concerning trends emerge.”

Mackenzie said Cape Town Central experienced a 30.8% increase in contact crimes when deployment fell. Belhar saw murders increase by 162.5%. Lingelethu West experienced a 78.9% increase in robberies at residential premises. And Oudtshoorn experienced a 146.2% increase in attempted murders.

“In addition to these trends, the disparities in police-to-population ratios further paint a disturbing picture,” said Mackenzie.

“For example, Wynberg has a 1:201 police-to-population ratio while Gugulethu has a ratio of 1:773. Even though these ratios exclude specialised units, it still shows how inefficient national SAPS is in determining allocations of officers and resources to communities who need them the most.”

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