South Africans's perceptions of the police and the courts: Results of the 2007 National victims of crime survey

An analysis of findings of the 2007 victimisation survey in respect of perceptions of public in relation to the functioning of the police and courts.

In 2007 the ISS conducted a national crime and victimisation survey. The survey followed on from two earlier victim surveys conducted by the ISS and Statistics South Africa in 1998 and 2003 respectively. Together, these three surveys provide an unprecedented snapshot of both changing victimisation levels and perceptions of crime and the criminal justice system over the last decade. This paper, one of several on the research results, provides an analysis of the findings of the 2007 victimisation survey in respect of preceptions of the public in relation to the functioning of the police and courts. It also provides a comparison between the 2003 and 2007 victmisation survey findings on these matters.

About the author

Michael O’Donovan is an independent analyst specialising in service delivery and its related social and political dimensions. This work is united by a strong statistical focus. Over recent years he has increasingly concentrated his energies on the criminal justice system. As part of this O’Donovan has conducted or contributed to reviews of incarceration policy, community courts, and the effects of bail policy and practices. In order to improve popular understanding of crime he has designed various tools to map and describe crime in particular communities and across the country as a whole.