City of Cape Town to get Dog Unit

The City of Cape Town says it is to spend more than R10-million over the next two years on setting up a unit of specialised drug-sniffing dogs. (From IOL) (This in a city where 10% of the population live in corrugated iron shacks)

The city already has its own "Drug Busters" narcotics unit.

Properly trained dogs would help the unit to work more efficiently by quickly tracking down illegal substances, unit spokesperson councillor Glen Kleinsmith said on Tuesday.

"This is especially important now that dealers have become very creative when it comes to concealing drugs," he said in a statement.

The dogs would be used at roadblocks, in searches of council rental stock houses used as drug outlets, and in "integrated enforcement operations" with other law enforcement agencies such as the SA Police Services.

Kleinsmith said the city aimed to have 20 trained dogs and handlers deployed to clamp down on drug dens and dealers by 2010.

City mayor Helen Zille said there had been a five-fold increase in drug-related crime in Cape Town over the past seven years.

"[It] is one of the biggest social crises we face as a city," she said.

"Already at least 80 percent of crime in this city is somehow linked to drug and substance abuse." (No need to identify which drugs you are talking about now is there? Alcohol is even excluded from the definition of "drug" in the National Drug Master Plan. Talking tough about drugs is like viagra for politicians. Does the fact that the possession and sale of these same drugs are illegal not mean that your argument is somewhat circular? What percentage of that 80% of crime is related to the sale and possession of drugs? If the drugs were not illegal would the statistics really be the same? Then you have to ask yourself which drugs these dogs are going to be used to target - alcohol and tik - the biggest problems - are not on that list, but cannabis will be. More proof that the city has the best intentions, but no brains.)