14 May 2004: Statement: Launch of New Website: Civilian Oversight of Police Accountability

A NEW WEBSITE ON CIVILIAN OVERSIGHT OF POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY IS LAUNCHED

Press Release

 

A new website, www.policeaccountability.co.za, on police accountability in South Africa, was launched this week. The launch was held at a workshop on “Strengthening oversight of police in South Africa ”, at the Belmont Square Conference Centre in Rondebosch.

 

This new website’s vision is to be a dynamic resource to enhance and promote accountable policing in South Africa. The objectives are to promote and strengthen monitoring of police conduct, to highlight current debates, to encourage the public to participate in sharing ideas, to provide information on police oversight and to assist with networking. This is a resource for the public, civil society, practitioners and state departments interested in democratic publicly accountable policing in South Africa.

 

The website, developed by the Institute of Criminology, University of Cape Town, is part of a larger project on promoting police accountability undertaken in association with the Open Society Foundation - South Africa and the Open Society Justice Initiative. Other role-players are the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, Institute for Security Studies, and UMAC (U Managing Conflict). The project aims to promote policing in South Africa that is consistent with the spirit and the provisions of the Constitution of South Africa. It was initiated in 2003 with a series of workshops involving key oversight agencies where a number of activities were identified as important to strengthen oversight.

 

The “Strengthening Oversight of Police in South Africa report back and planning workshop” at which the website was launched, was attended by 57 participants from the South African Police, National and Provincial Departments of Safety and Security, the Independent Complaints Directorate, non government organisations and research institutions. Advocate Karen McKenzie, Executive Director of the Independent Complaints Directorate, opened the launch of the website, stressing the need for easily accessible, transparent information for supporting police accountability in South Africa. Quoting Mandela’s talk to Parliament earlier in the day, she said ‘Mandela indicated that he would like to see us remain vigilant so that the future never again becomes the past; this website assists in that vigilance’.

 

The website contains information about current projects looking at accountability mechanisms; organograms of oversight structures, publications, worldwide links, a comments facility for the public to send in suggestions and experiences and an opportunity to join the mailing list to receive regular updates on police accountability in South Africa.