The South African Police Service (SAPS) hosted a colloquium in November 2014, which focused was on demilitarising the police in a democratic dispensation, as well as policing in a violence society: a case for South Africa. The CSIR and the SAPS signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) in February 2014, which facilitated a formal invitation from the SAPS to the CSIR to participate in this event.
The MoA includes various potential programmes between the CSIR and the SAPS. One of the programmes focuses on strategic and operational decision-support, specifically concentrating on statistical crime analysis and modelling, as well as spatial and facility planning.
The colloquium ran over two days in an environment conducive to both scholarly reflection and cordial discussion. In attendance were the National Police Commissioner, General Riah Phiyega, as well as the Deputy Commissioner Lieutenant General Christabel Mbekela. Speakers included Dr Danny Titus, a commissioner of the Human Rights Commission and Prof Ian de Vries, head of the Safety and Security Department at the Tshwane University of Technology.
“There is an expressed divergence of opinion in various circles with regard to the comprehension and implementation of the National Development Plan imperative on demilitarisation of the police. The colloquium enabled the attendees to propose theories and actions to be constructed to effectively confront these matters across the spectrum. We want a police service that is seen by the community as upright, professional, honest and respectful,” said Phiyega.
The CSIR was represented by Tinus Kruger and Dr Peter Schmitz. Kruger is a principal researcher and is a registered architect specialising in Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED), with a particular focus on crime and crime prevention within the context of developing countries. He has been involved in various studies regarding the relationship between crime and the planning, design and management of the physical environment since 1998.
Kruger’s presentation explored the significance of understanding why certain crimes occur in specific locations and explained the potential benefits of analysing crime patterns and other factors in order to develop more effective responses aimed at reducing crime. He also emphasised the importance of having access to reliable, accurate crime data at police station level to gain a better understanding of local crime problems. The presentation dealt, in particular, with the role of the physical environment in creating opportunities for crime and violence, and identified possible interventions that could reduce such opportunities.
“It was an inspiring event, since it demonstrated the fact that the SAPS acknowledges the contribution that research could make to improving policing and reducing crime. This commitment of the SAPS to research is further emphasised by the fact that they are in the process of establishing a research institute. It is expected that this will result in a variety of opportunities for collaboration between the CSIR and the SAPS, especially in fields related to the spatial analysis of crime, environmental criminology and situational crime prevention,” concluded Kruger.
“The point was to find answers to the questions we have and with those answers, improve our situation,” explained Phiyega. “We are continuously ingraining the culture of study in this organisation and we aim at participating in more colloquia of this nature to research, evaluate and review our own endeavours as the SAPS. We have to do this because the people of South Africa deserve and are entitled to live in safety, free from crime and violence, as our Constitution dictates.”
Quotes by the National Police Commissioner, extracted from her speech available at:
http://www.saps.gov.za/newsroom/msspeechdetail.php?nid=23
