The first of 10 motorised units, said to be worth millions, arrived in the country last week.
They will be stationed outside stadiums and manned by senior police officers on match days to monitor how many people enter the stadiums, traffic conditions in the area, crime and general surveillance, said Senior Superintendent Vish Naidoo, spokesman for the police's 2010 unit.
He confirmed that police had recently bought the first unit, and would take delivery of three more before next month's Confederations Cup.
..The units form part of the police's R650 million procurement drive for 2010 and beyond, which also includes water cannons, specialised helicopters and bullet-proof vests.
After 2010, the units would be used for crime prevention and for other major events, said Naidoo.
Apart from the mobile command units, police have also bought remote-controlled robots to fight crime during the tournament.
There are eight remote-controlled vehicle-tracking robots in the country, each costing about R2.5m, with another eight expected to be delivered later this year.
The robots, imported from the US, are used to detect and defuse bombs.
Each comes with a 12-gauge shotgun and hi-tech sensors.
Source:
Mobile units will give police an edge in 2010
cape Argus
May 5, 2009
