POLICE Minister Nathi Mthethwa and national Police Commissioner Bheki Cele certainly know how to talk the talk.

Their announcement last week that Port Elizabeth would soon boast a crack 41-member Tactical Response Team to tackle armed robberies and serious crime in Port Elizabeth was no doubt welcome news for the crime-weary residents of the city.

The team will apparently operate similarly to the National Intervention Unit by responding more quickly to crimes, cracking down on syndicates and offering more specialised services.

It is an amalgamation of officers from various police stations in Port Elizabeth who have undergone specialist training and the officers will be based at a central point rather than at specific police stations.

Despite the fact that the official launch of the team has had to be postponed due to delays in getting equipment and specialised vehicles, the plan on the whole sounds promising. However, more cynical residents can be forgiven for being somewhat dubious of the latest announcement, given government’s past inconsistency in its policies on police restructuring.

Only three years ago, specialised policing units throughout the Eastern Cape were closed down, with their personnel relocated to station level as part of a wide-ranging and controversial restructuring process.

More than 400 police officers from various specialised units, including serious and violent crimes, family violence, child protection and sexual offences and crime intelligence, were relocated back to station level.

The reasoning at the time was that the restructuring would make specialised police officers more accessible to the general public. However the move was widely slated by NGOs, who said the skills of specially-trained officers would be lost as they were absorbed into general duties.

Now it appears the move is to some extent being reversed under South Africa’s new Police Minister.

While this is not necessarily a bad thing, government must ensure a comprehensive long- term plan to fight crime in South Africa, and stick to it. Ongoing restructuring will only demoralise officers, create disharmony and detract attention from the real challenge of catching criminals.