New SAPS App to fight crime

THE South African Police Services (SAPS) together with Vodacom recently unveiled the newly launched MySaps Mobile App. According to the police, the app is a first of its kind on the continent.

The app is designed to provide South Africans with a new and easy access to police stations and report criminals and their activities (tip-offs).

The new app will allow citizens to interact with law enforcement officials more effectively by:
Providing tip-offs anonymously through the app
Finding nearest police stations and facilities

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Upon registering on the platform, and creating a profile, users will be able to view a directory of police stations along with nearby social service facilities.

To make use of the tip-off facility, within the app or via USSD, users can select to report the crime anonymously, which will ensure their profile is not shared. They can then proceed to identify the type of incident, whether it is corruption, drug-related, theft or human trafficking.

They will then need to provide the incident details (who, what, when, where and how they know about the crime), as well as provide the suspect’s details anonymously, to help the SAPS create a profile of the suspect.

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Once they’ve completed all the necessary fields, the person reporting the crime or tip-off will receive a reference number, which they can use to add additional information relevant to the crime, or follow up on the progress that’s been made.

The MySAPS app is available for all in South Africa to download onto their smartphones from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. A USSD string is also available for feature phone users.

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