Police to deploy drones to capture careless driving in Harare CBD

Police will deploy drones in areas around Harare’s Central Business District and its precincts to complement the newly introduced Electronic Traffic Management System (ETMS) in identifying traffic offenders.

This comes as most towns in the country have become untamed traffic jungles, with the influx of illegal taxis and kombis causing mayhem, daily.

Common traffic offences include picking up and dropping off passengers at unauthorised locations, creating imaginary lanes, driving against the flow of traffic, ignoring stop signs and operating public service vehicles without the necessary permits.

Police recently flagged 290 motorists for various traffic infractions captured by surveillance cameras and are now set to add drones to enhance order in towns.

In an interview, Zimbabwe Republic Police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi said drones will be deployed from Harare Central Police Station to identify suspected offenders.

Comm Nyathi said the majority of the 290 offenders captured through the ETMS have since been identified and fined.

“It is not just a unique system which is working in isolation. It is also integrated in the drone facility, which the Zimbabwe Public Police has also introduced. Now we have got drones at Harare Central Police Station. We have drones which can monitor as far as even, you know, 5km, 10km to 20km away,” he said.

Comm Nyathi said police will be able to monitor activities as far as the Harare Exhibition Park, also known as Showgrounds, from Harare Central Police Station using drones.

“For example, while it is at Harare Central, we can monitor what happens at Market Square. We can monitor what happens at Rotten Row. We can monitor what happens even at the Showground and also even at the other side of the town. So what it entails is, yes, the electronic traffic management system is there and effective. It can also be supported and aided by this drone facility,” he said.

Comm Nyathi said the new system is effective and will assist in taming congestion in the CBD and enforcing traffic laws. “So some of the motorists who may think that the system is not effective will be surprised when the drone facility also comes on board. In Bulawayo we also have a CCTV facility which also monitors what happens in the CBD,” he said.

Comm Nyathi indicated that the system will also be implemented in other cities around the country.

“So definitely very soon we will also be publicising motorists who are also committing traffic violations in Bulawayo CBD to show how serious the Commissioner General of Police is in terms of modernising the police and also in terms of dealing with road traffic violations by air and motorists,” he said.

The Herald