Pretoria – The Police Ministry says it has noted media reports around the under-reporting of crime, based on a report released by the South African Institute of Race Relations.
“As the ministry, we recognise that research organisations and academic institutions play a key role in providing sound inputs into our crime-fighting strategies.
“We want to challenge them to continue with their robust yet constructive analysis. We welcome and recognise that on the one hand, there is a current knowledge base from which we develop our policies and programmes, by also doing comparative studies with other developed and developing countries,” said the ministry in a statement.
It said the under-reporting of crime was not a situation unique to South Africa, but a global challenge. However, the ministry stressed that crime victims should not remain silent.
Over the past three years, the ministry has been reviewing some of the factors which may lead to members of society not reporting crime.
“That is why our annual crime statistics are seen to be indicative of trends and why murder is always considered the most accurate crime statistic,” said the police.
For crime to be drastically reduced, the ministry called on all South Africans to play their part.
Police in particular were urged to take seriously the duties of their jobs, and to see policing not as “a favour to society but a mandate”.
Reviewing the criminal justice system
In developing the crime-fighting strategy, the police have adopted a multi-facetted approach, which includes reviewing the criminal justice system.
“This review is borne out of the recognition of the inter-relationship between all aspects of the criminal justice system (CJS). This speaks to tightening the roles of all players, whether one looks at this value-chain from police, justice, corrections right up to Home Affairs.
“Those who are most vulnerable in our society should be able to invoke the Constitution and law to protect them,” said the ministry.
It said the role of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate has been strengthened to deal with the allegations of police brutality to ensure that police do not abuse their powers as they carry out their mandate.
In improving policing and policing systems, the ministry said it had a clear vision of the kind of Police Service it wanted.
“In any policing system, our intelligence is the nerve centre and plays a crucial role. It is for this reason we have prioritized the need to revitalise the intelligence component of SAPS and ensure the integration of intelligence into all aspects of policing,” it said.
Detective services would also continue to be upskilled and capacitated. They would do this by increasing the number and quality of detectives recruited.
The establishment of the Hawks to address organized crime and corruption has already yielded significant successes, said the police.
Equally important to improving detective services was the police’s forensic capacity.
“Addressing our forensic capacity is not just about purchasing new equipment or employing new staff. Instead, we developed a clear plan with clear monitoring and evaluation processes,” said the ministry.
This plan was looking at both international experiences as well as tangible outcomes to help the police achieve their set targets over the next five years.
Triple-C approach
In realizing its vision, the ministry said it needed to address service delivery within the police.
“To achieve this, we are now placing a concerted focus on what we have termed the triple-C approach,” it said.
This methodology speaks to the following aspects:
- The need for greater command and control within the police. Part of command and control must address how the police manage their members at a provincial and national level.
Management is not only about issuing instructions but also managing the how these instructions are implemented. Managers must be on the ground, overseeing a station daily, being in touch with the communities, CPFs and importantly, leading by example. - The need for greater co-ordination. All the different components of the police need to work together and supporting each other.
- Internal and external communication. Police said they were improving communication within their ranks as well communication with the society they were are policing.
Police had to make sure that they communicated the important aspects of their work.
“Once they arrest criminals, they must communicate to society that such criminals are now behind bars. Failure to do so leads to anxiety and perceptions that police are ineffective, when in fact they are effective,” said the ministry.
The police also began the review process of the White Paper on Safety and Security about two years ago.
“We undertook this duty to ensure that going forward, we begin to be guided by a clear single policy framework that speaks to the current democratic dispensation,” said the ministry.
“We shall continue to implement crime-fighting strategies informed by clear monitoring mechanisms… We therefore urge communities to report any form of crime at their local police stations,” it added. – SAnews.gov.za
