Cape Town – Officers attached to the Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (Leap) were on patrol in Steenberg, Cape Town, when they came under fire at about 9pm on Tuesday.
The officers were forced to withdraw from an informal settlement in the area.
Steenberg has been plagued by shootings as rival gangs continue to fight for drug trade turf.
According to mayoral committee member for safety and security, Alderman JP Smith, reinforcements were deployed within minutes and additional resources arrived from Nyanga, Gugulethu and Mfuleni.
The teams arrested 10 suspects.
A further two suspects were arrested after they were found in possession of unlicensed firearms: a 9mm and a Taurus revolver.
The two suspects were arrested at Muizenberg police station while the others were detained and profiled to ensure they were not linked to any crimes or wanted in any outstanding criminal cases.
“The days of criminals intimidating our SAPS members is coming to an end. Our Leap members are there to support our SAPS members but when the need arises, we can flood an area within minutes, with even more Leap members if needed.
“These criminals are foolish as they instead just help us prove our theory to the national government: putting more boots on the ground really does work,” Smith said.
IOL