​A City of Cape Town traffic officer leaving the Gallows Hill Driving Licence Testing Centre just after 21:00 on 9 November spotted a driver spinning his wheels as he turned onto Somerset Road. The officer moved to address the issue, but the driver sped off when the officer activated his blue lights. He took off along Glengariff Road, onto High Level and then onto Kloof Road towards Camps Bay. Officers responding to the call for back-up cornered him near the 12 Apostles Hotel and Spa, but he refused to switch off the engine or open the window – instead forcing his way through the traffic vehicles boxing him in. The chase eventually ended when the driver turned into a cul de sac at the Hout Bay fire station. The suspect was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and reckless and negligent driving and taken to the local police station where a docket was opened.

In another incident the following morning at approximately 06:30, an officer on patrol along the N2 incoming before Borcherds Quarry Road observed the driver of a white Toyota Quantum minibus-taxi driving recklessly. He stopped the vehicle and did a sobriety test. The driver was found to be more than four times over the legal limit. He was also transporting 21 children to various schools in the CBD. He was detained at Nyanga police station for driving under the influence of alcohol, with additional charges of reckless and negligent driving. All children in the vehicle were transported safely to their respective schools.

‘These types of incidents are becoming far too commonplace. It speaks to a complete disregard for law and order, but also the lives of others. Sadly, I don’t think we’ll see a change in behaviour until we see the type of sanctions handed down in the courts that are commensurate with the arrogance our enforcement staff encounter on the roads on a daily basis. The City has been engaging the Western Cape Government to introduce much tougher laws and penalties in the new Provincial Traffic Act to deal with vehicles engaged in "evade and elude" tactics who race away after being instructed to stop,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security; and Social Services, Alderman JP Smith.

Elsewhere, the City’s Traffic Service arrested 155 more suspects, impounded 77 vehicles (52 of them during a week-long operation in the Brackenfell area), and issued 5 048 fines for various offences.

Meanwhile, members of the Metro Police Department derailed a suspected drug dealer’s day when they arrested him at Mutual Railway Station. Officers were conducting early morning crime prevention patrols in the area on 8 November 2017 when they spotted the suspect on the platform. His behaviour piqued their interest and their suspicions were confirmed when the man started running away. They gave chase and found him in possession of 25 bankies of dagga. The 34-year-old was detained at Pinelands police station.

The suspect was one of 19 suspects arrested by Metro Police for drug possession in the last week. Officers also arrested 39 motorists for driving under the influence of alcohol.

On 6 November 2017, Metro Police officers conducted a crime prevention operation in the Philippi, Lansdowne and Gugulethu areas. They arrested a 21-year-old male for possession of a homemade firearm along Turfhall Road. Later, the Gang and Drug Task Team followed up on information about a suspect wanted for the shooting of a South African Police Service officer in October 2017. The officers found a male who fitted the description at a fruit and vegetable stand in Surran Road in Hanover Park and arrested the 42-year-old on a charge of attempted murder.

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