Johannesburg’s metro police have deployed 34 officers to help police by-laws in Johannesburg’s parks, cemeteries and open spaces, City Parks said on Tuesday.
They will work with 30 park wardens already policing the areas, as well as community policing forums and the South African Police Service.
The partnership will focus on vagrancy, illegal dumping, tree felling, illegal use of parks, unleashed dogs, loud noise and littering.
The city overseas over 2 000 parks, according to its website.
City Parks spokesperson Jenny Moodley said the 34 officers would be based at the most frequented parks and would be sent to other parks in the vicinity when informed of an incident.
She said that although crime was a police function, they would try to ensure that it became part of their responsibility too.
Gauteng minister of safety and security Firoz Cachalia and his wife, Nazira, were accosted at Emmarentia Dam last February, highlighting city residents’ fears about walking in parks. — Sapa