Why SA needs specialised detective units
Can the damage caused by disbanding specialised detective units in South Africa be reversed?
When Jackie Selebi, during his term as national commissioner of the South African Police Service (SAPS), closed down a number of specialised investigative units and distributed their members to police stations across the country, he convinced many that he was on the right track.
In a public statement on 27 September 2006, Selebi argued that 'the restructuring of the police will lead to a decrease in crime’. With hindsight, we now know that this did not happen.
Overall, crime levels in South Africa peaked during 2002/03, thereafter dropping by about 25% until it stabilised in 2007/08. The total crime rate remained mostly consistent before starting to increase from 2011/12. In fact, some of the most serious violent crimes increased quite dramatically following Selebi’s statement in 2006. For example, between 2005/06 and 2014/15, house robbery increased by 99% and business robbery by 337%. Murder increased for a record third year in a row since democracy, rising by more than 14% from 15 554 in 2011/12 to 17 805 in 2014/15.
Not everybody was convinced that closing and restructuring specialised units was the right approach
Not everybody was convinced that closing and restructuring specialised units was the right approach to combating of South Africa’s serious crime problem. As early as July 2009 – only 18 months after Selebi was placed on extended leave, facing corruption charges – then minister of police, Nathi Mthethwa, acknowledged that the restructuring of the specialised units had to be ‘reviewed’ and that there was a need to consider ‘reintroducing’ some of them.
Subsequently, since June 2010, the Family Violence, Child Abuse and Sexual Offences units were being rapidly rebuilt. Not much else happened on this front, however, apart from an announcement by the National Commissioner of SAPS, Riah Phiyega, in July 2013 that the SAPS’ Anti-Corruption Unit was to be re-established in the course of that year.
At the time of writing this has still not happened, although there are indications that an inter-departmental task team is working on a structure for a more integrated anti-corruption capability.
The National Development Plan 2030, approved in 2012, also recommends that specialised units be re-established, ‘staffed with highly trained and professional police officers, to respond to changing crime trends such as narcotics, cyber crime, human trafficking … and international crime syndicates’. More recently, on 29 March 2015, the minister of police, Nkosinathi Nhleko, announced in a media statement that a decision had been taken to consider re-introducing specialised ‘crime fighting units’.
Effectively tackling crime in South Africa is a complex business
Effectively tackling crime is a complex business. The police have to respond to a range of crime types, from shoplifting to murder and criminal activities associated with commercial crime.
It also includes interpersonal violence and crimes committed by individuals, small groups and larger, organised syndicates.
Sophisticated crime types like cybercrime and copper cable theft are increasing, costing the country billions. It would be unreasonable to expect station detectives to have the specialised skills, expertise and experience to investigate all of these varied crimes, given that they are often perpetrated by expert criminals and crime syndicates.
This is why police agencies across the globe form specialised teams of detectives, who are trained and equipped to investigate specific types of crime.
Establishing specialised investigative teams must, however, be based on thorough analysis of why a particular crime has become a problem, and what is needed to address it. It should also include an investigation of which methods, practices, skills and training are most effective to combat a particular type of crime.
There should also be some form of consultation with interest groups to assess whether there will be acceptance and support for a particular specialised group or team. A similar approach should be followed when the closing of a specialised investigative team is considered.
Has disbanding South Africa’s specialised detective units created a skills vacuum?
The strength of specialised investigative units lies in their ability to focus talent and attention on a specific crime. These units are able to attract qualified investigators, and offer the right kind of expertise, knowledge, training, techniques and equipment. This approach fosters a culture of pride and team spirit unique to a particular unit. When new members join, they learn the ‘trade’ from those with more experience, and as the older members leave, younger members are able to replace them.
Selebi clearly failed to understand that decentralising the members of specialised units would result in at least two negative outcomes: first, units would no longer create new experts; and second, when units were closed down or weakened, pride and team spirit also disappeared. This demoralised remaining members and had a negative impact on the quality of their work. When they eventually became disgruntled and left, the organisation was unable to replace them.
Selebi’s forced departure in 2009, and a lack of stability in subsequent leadership, has done little to resolve the uncertainty surrounding some of the leading investigative units within the SAPS. There are increasingly positive indications that things may change, but clear and concrete steps are urgently needed if rising levels of serious, violent crimes are to be reduced effectively in the near future.
Johan Burger, Senior Researcher, Governance, Crime and Justice Division, ISS Pretoria
This ISS Today is based on a new ISS Paper by Johan Burger, titled No-man’s-land: The uncertain existence of SAPS specialised investigative units.
