Innovations and Practices

 Together Against Crime

Introduction

Policing is not just something the police own. This simple fact has instigated a reconfiguration and rethinking of policing worldwide. Community policing has emerged as one of the strongest support systems to that of the conventional policing system, sometimes overriding its importance.

Countries across the Commonwealth have faced three fundamental problems with their police services: defining their role, devising effective controls over their discretion and establishing their legitimacy. This article will discuss highlights of community policing in South Africa.

Community policing first developed during the 1980s, when it was increasingly realised that the approach of incorporating a professional police service and a responsible public seemed to be the most effective way in creating a crime free environment. It seeks to empower the community by involving it in every consultative process, such as in determining the policing needs of the locale, the style of police work and the various forms of police intervention.

In today's age, community policing has come about to mean different things to different people. It could range from 'policing the community' to 'policing with the community'. As William Lyons puts it: "…the conceptual foundations of community policing range from nostalgic /images of the police and of communities, to management strategies, to visions of communities strong enough to police themselves".

Origins of Community Policing in South Africa

Shortly after the first democratic elections in 1994, the South African Police changed its name to the South African Police Service (SAPS). The first formal reference to community policing in democratic South Africa was found in the Interim Constitution, Act 200 of 1993. The main direction of the Act was to "provide for the establishment of community police forums in respect of police stations." In Section 222, the Constitution directed that the Act was to "provide for the establishment of an independent complaints mechanism to ensure that police misconduct could be independently investigated." South Africa is the only country in the Commonwealth to provide for community policing in its Constitution.

South African Police Service

In April 1997, the Department of Safety and Security published its formal policy on community policing the 'Community Policing Policy Framework and Guidelines.' Developed through a consultative process over a three-year period, the Policy Framework defined community policing in terms of a "collaborative, partnership based approach to local level problem solving." The Community Policing Policy Framework and Guidelines were incorporated into the police-training curriculum and became the subject of police and Community Police Forums (CPFs) workshops across much of the country.

The five core elements of community policing in South Africa are defined as:

• Service orientation - it provides for a professional policing service, one which is responsive to the needs of the community and is accountable for addressing their needs;
• Partnership - it provides to facilitate a co-operative and consultative relationship between the public and the police;
• Problem solving - it provides to identify and analyse causes of crime and conflict and jointly develop measures to address these;
• Empowerment - it provides for the creation of joint responsibility and capacity for addressing crime;
• Accountability - it provides to create a culture of accountability for addressing the needs and concerns of communities.

Community policing in practice

By the early 1990s, the police in South Africa had acquired a reputation for brutality, corruption and ineptitude. Police organisations were militarised, hierarchical, and ill equipped to deal with "ordinary crime". Street-level policing was conducted in a heavy-handed style, with bias against black citizens and little respect for rights or due process. Criminal investigations were largely reliant on confessions extracted under duress, and harsh security legislation provided for and tolerated various forms of coercion and torture.

The introduction of CPFs during the period of transition from apartheid to democratic rule undoubtedly helped the police in South Africa to break from its apartheid-imposed isolation. However, in effect, CPFs have enabled the police to establish relationships only with particular sections of the local communities. Groups such as young people, immigrants and women get lesser chances to present their cases through the CPF.

Given the severe capacity constraints and the limited public reach of CPFs, is it prudent to assume that the police in South Africa can ably engage in 'innovative practices' required to 'revitalise' or 'empower' communities. Some 25 percent of the 1,28,000 members of the SAPS remain functionally illiterate. Even more members have never received formal training in the methodology of community policing.

There is also a distinct lack of coherent and integrated recruitment, training, deployment and succession strategies. The Safety and Security White Paper, which was meant to bring in reforms to the functioning of CPFs, has failed to address certain limitations. For example, it has given very little attention to critically evaluate the role of CPFs in reducing the increasing crime rate. Loading CPFs with the responsibility of "mobilising and organising community based campaigns, activities and resources" is likely to bring about concentration of power. Police stations in well-to-do areas are more likely to well resourced as compared to those in poorer areas.

In his State of the Nation Address, President Mbeki stated that intensified efforts would be made to encourage further community involvement in the fight against crime. However the President made no mention of CPFs and instead stated that efforts would "include the recruitment of 30,000 reservists" with the focus being on identified high-crime areas.

Public safety, security and policing, in the eyes of the public are yet to be considered as common responsibility. Unless the government takes concrete steps to consolidate community policing, it will continue to be perceived as strictly "police business."