Presentation Outline  Crime combating – A diagram  Two photo’s of neglected areas  Objects of the police  Definition of ‘crime prevention’; and the causes of crime  Are police the solution?  A critical view of the police’s role  Defining policing  The main elements of community policing  Community policing: ‘Not everybody’s business’  The development of sector policing in SA  Recommendations

Combating (fighting) crime Policing Short-term interventions Policing Short-term interventions Private security Crime prevention Long-term interventions Crime prevention Long-term interventions Proactive Policing Visible policing Law enforce- ment Order main- tenance Proactive Policing Visible policing Law enforce- ment Order main- tenance Reactive Policing Crime investi- gation Law enforce- ment Order restora- tion Reactive Policing Crime investi- gation Law enforce- ment Order restora- tion Arrests Deterrence Socio-economic interventions (social crime prevention) Crime prevention through environ- mental design Deterrence through effective Criminal Justice System Socio-economic interventions (social crime prevention) Crime prevention through environ- mental design Deterrence through effective Criminal Justice System Other interv. (other depts & com. initia- tives) Other interv. (other depts & com. initia- tives)

4 CausesProtestsImplications Photo’s from the Mail & Guardian Online Network

A neglected street area somewhere in JHB

Section 205 (3) of the SA Constitution, 1996:  prevent, combat and investigate crime;  to maintain public order;  to protect and secure the inhabitants of the Republic and their property; and  to uphold and enforce the law ‘Objects’ of the SA Police Service

Definition of crime prevention (p.9) : … as comprising strategies and measures that seek to reduce the risk of crimes occurring, and their potential harmful effects on individuals and society, including fear of crime, by intervening to influence their multiple causes Causes or risk factors of crime (p.11) : At the local level, inadequate infrastructure and fiscal and administrative powers, poor housing and neighbourhood conditions, lack of facilities such as good education and health services, high unemployment and easy access to drugs or small arms can all increase risks. Within cities, there are often marked discrepancies and inequalities between different geographical sectors. UN Handbook on crime prevention guidelines (2010)

Mr Kenneth Baker, British Home Secretary in the Thatcher government, in his memoirs in 1990: ‘… while several of my ministerial colleagues and Tory MP’s supported the police in public, they were highly critical of them in private. There was impatience, if not anger, that although we had spent 87% more in real terms since 1979, and had increased police numbers by , there had still been a substantial increase in crime’ Are police the solution?

Robert Reiner (1994), quoting from Raymond Chandler in The Long Goodbye: … using the cops to control crime and other complex social problems is like taking aspirin to cure a brain tumour, but ‘no way has yet been invented to say goodbye to them’ Morgan & Newburn, The future of policing (1997): … it is also very clear that we cannot go on as we have been doing … We must establish what the fundamental role and functions of the police are to be A critical view of the police’s role

Prof David Bayley in Police for the Future (1994) The police do not prevent crime. This is one of the best-kept secrets of modern life. Experts know it, the police know it, but the public does not know it. Yet the police pretend that they are society’s best defence against crime and continually argue that if they are given more resources, especially personnel, they will be able to protect communities against crime. This is a myth. A critical view of the police’s role (Contd.)

David Bayley & Clifford Shearing in The new structure of policing … (2001) define policing as: … the activity of making societies safe. [According to them policing is about more than what the police do and includes any legitimate activity aimed at the provision of security, whether it is provided by the police or a private security institution] (Safety/security rather than policing?) My own definition of policing: … all those lawful activities, whether proactive or reactive, performed by the police in the process of providing their prescribed services such as reassuring the public; creating a visible deterrence; and executing their law enforcement, crime investigation and public order functions. Defining policing

The ‘main elements of community policing’ (A Manual for the South African Police Service, 1997: 11) Firstly, structured consultation between the police and different communities about local problems, policies, priorities and strategies Secondly, adapting policing strategies to fit the requirements of particular local circumstances as well as the development of a customer orientation in the rendering of service Thirdly, mobilizing all resources available to the community and the police to resolve problems and promote safety and security Fourthly, accountability to the community through mechanisms designed to encourage transparency Fifthly, changing the policing focus from a primarily reactive focus on crime control to a proactive focus on the underlying causes of crime and violence [Confusing proactive policing and crime prevention]

Community policing: Not everybody’s business ISS Monograph No 71, March 2002 … the CPFs have a very limited public reach, and cannot be considered representative of the communities in which they function. Further, as CPF practitioners do not appear to engage with their core functions in the manner outlined in the policy and legislation, the CPFs are, in their current form and functioning, poorly placed to engage meaningfully in local safety, security and policing issues … Public safety, security and policing in the SAPS priority areas therefore remain a long way away from being seen as a common responsibility, or everybody's business. They remain, in the perceptions of the general public, still very much 'police business’ By Eric Pelser, Johan Schnetler & Antoinette Louw (Research in 45 out of 219 priority stations across the country)

Development of Sector Policing White Paper on Safety & Security (1998: 17): … the division of areas into smaller managerial sectors and the assignment of police officers to these areas on a full-time basis. These police officers regularly patrol their own sector and are able to identify problems and seek appropriate solutions Period of draft policies and instructions (1998 – 2008): Draft Guidelines on Sector Policing (April 2008) Draft National Instruction of the SA Police Service (2003) Draft Policy Document on Sector Policing (2005)

Draft National Instruction of 2003 : Sector policing is a method of policing used in a smaller, manageable geographical sector in a police station area; the appointment of a police official as a sector commander who, by acting as a crime prevention official will involve all role players in identifying the particular policing needs in each sector and addressing the root causes of crime, as well as the enabling and contributing factors, in order to bring about effective crime prevention Development of Sector Policing (Contd) A community policing focus

Development of Sector Policing (Contd) A subtle move towards more operational policing The SAPS Strategic Plan : Continued the [pretence of a] focus on ‘problem solving’, but focused more on practical guidelines & responsibility for visible policing, crime deterrence, quick response to crimes Draft Policy Document on Sector Policing (2005): Took the move towards more operational policing a little further by subtly replacing ‘community policing’ with ‘community safety’ National Instruction on Sector Policing (3 of 2009): Primary focus now firmly on operational policing with typical community policing tasks now secondary (Continued on next slide)

Development of Sector Policing (Contd) Operational policing in the sectors National Instruction 3 of 2009: Par.3(4) – Sector Commander tasked with coordination of ‘all sector policing activities within the sector’ Par.3(3) – Sector teams now appointed to all sectors (by the Station Commander) Par.3(5) – Responsibility for briefing, posting and debriefing of sector teams rests with the Relief Commander Read with par. 2.3 & 2.4 of Implementation Guidelines: Sector Commander: Takes full control of all policing activities within the sector, including specific projects, crime prevention operations, police patrols, attending to complaints, meetings, etc. Sector Commander is also tasked with ‘ensuring that sector role players are deployed to address the operational policing needs of the sector (in cooperation with the relief commander)’ Relief Commander appoints an ‘operational commander’ for the sector team

Development of Sector Policing (Contd) Confusing roles & responsibilities New instructions changed the role of the sector commander from a community mobiliser and organiser to an operational police commander Relationship between the sector commander and the relief commander in relation to operational control in the sector became unclear and confusing Addition of designated ‘sector teams’ to perform policing duties in the sector, completely changed the face of sector policing. This also had a number of other implications, for example:  It brings into question the need for and the role of a sector commander if there already is a permanent police team with its own operational commander operating in the sector  What would the role of CPU’s be when there are sector teams?  What impact would this new role allocation have on other visible policing functions and units such as attendance to complaints? The implications for staffing of all of these positions and responsibilities are apparent and will, in most places, be extremely difficult to sustain. This was always going to result in staff shortages.

Development of Sector Policing (Contd) National Instruction on Sector Policing (3 of 2013) NI 3/2013 defines sector policing as a policing approach that adopts a decentralised and geographical approach to policing by dividing a station area into manageable sectors to improve effective policing, service delivery, community involvement and interaction through partnership policing (Cf. with definition in NI 3/2009: … means policing that focuses on small manageable sectors of a police station) NI 3/2013 makes it clear that the main aim of sector policing is [again] to support the implementation of the philosophy of community and partnership policing. Sector policing therefore, in terms of the current NI, appears to have moved slightly back to its original form NI 3/2013 no longer provide for ‘sector teams’, but instead, in par. 5 (d), mentions the deployment of ‘operational members and resources … in accordance with crime pattern and threat analysis to perform policing duties’. (This is more acceptable than being tasked with permanently maintaining sector teams. It also leaves room, as was originally intended, for the sector commander to liaise with operational commanders for a specific operational deployment in a sector as an ‘appropriate response’)

Recommendations Clarify or define the term ‘crime prevention’. This would assist with the understanding of what ‘crime prevention units’ are supposed to be doing and how this is different from what ‘visible policing’ is doing, and also what a sector commander is expected to be doing in relation to ‘crime prevention programmes and projects.’ The roles and expectations of Sector Forums and even CPF’s should be reconsidered. SF’s are seldom able to involve the type of representation in relation to other relevant government dept’s in the way that some CPF’s are able to. The number of CPF’s and sector forums that government agencies and others have to attend, makes regular attendance unlikely. This makes it extremely difficult for sector commanders to develop or facilitate the kind of multi-agency and multi-disciplinary projects expected of them. It is essential that a practical approach is taken to what CPF’s and SF’s are capable of in relation to ‘problem solving’. Some problems may be within the reach of a sector community or a CPF, but what do they do with problems they cannot themselves address? Who do they pass it on to? This is important for the police in view of the mostly unfair expectation that because of the existence of CPF and sector structures the police will be able to ‘solve’ all kinds of community problems.

Recommendations (Contd) The establishment of Community Safety Forums (CSF’s) should be supported. Apparently the thinking is to link these to municipalities and to completely change the structure and role of CSF’s in relation to the current CPF’s, which will eventually relieve the police of what has become a huge burden for them. The police must participate in CSF’s, but the setting up and management of these structures will no longer be a police responsibility. It is important to distinguish between ‘sector policing’ and the ‘sector commander’. The sector concept has become a very useful delineation of the police precinct for purposes of operational policing, but in this process the role of the sector commander vis-à-vis the sector has become somewhat blurred. This blurring was particularly aggravated by the 2009 National Instruction.

THANK YOU / DANKIE Johan Burger Tel