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PREPARING SOUTH AFRICA FOR THE WORLD |
With the 2010 World Cup looming fast, police have been given an arsenal of new equipment to boost security during the event. This includes a robot which can be used for a variety of operations, such as dangerous rescue situations, hostage negotiations, crowd control and chemical spills. Terry Finney who is a senior instructor with the SA Police Services bomb disposal and research unit, is tasked with preparing the equipment and personnel for the tournament. Project 2010 asked him….  Can you give us an idea of the new equipment you have acquired? There’s a wide range of equipment which includes Talon robots, Med-Eng EOD9 bomb suits, Scanna Real Time x-ray monitors which don’t need film and, of course, new helicopters. The idea is to decrease the time we need to man the equipment which will give us more time to police these events – the World Cup as well as the Confederations Cup. There has been a lot of publicity around the Remote Operated Vehicle – the tracking robot which comes with a 12 gauge shotgun and an array of sensors. What’s the deal? Well, we have eight already and there are two more waiting to be delivered. All in all, we should have 16 robots deployed around the country for 2010. The reality is that robots are not new to South Africa – these are just more advanced and are very effective with dealing with issues like bomb threats. The shotgun is merely a weapon utilised by trained technicians to disrupt bombs. The sensors that can be attached to the weapon include explosives sniffer, the FIDO, and various chemical and biological detectors. Can you cope with an event of this magnitude? This is nothing new. We've hosted a lot of big events - including the rugby and cricket world cups and many high-profile soccer matches. But, granted, 2010 is much, much bigger. Yes, I believe we are on track. Overall how are your preparations going for 2010? We will use this year's Confederations Cup to iron out any mistakes. Sure, mistakes will be made, but we have training courses planned right through to the World Cup. more interviews...
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