Monograph 67: Municipal Policing in South Africa. Development and Challenges, Janine Rauch, Mark Shaw and Antoinette Louw
Combating corruption in the extractive industries in Africa has been elevated as a priority by a range of stakeholders
This
monograph traces the origins and development of municipal policing in
South Africa from the infamous `municipal police` in apartheid South
Africa`s townships, to the respected Durban City Police–a self-styled
British constabulary that operated in the city from 1854 to 2000 when it
was replaced by the Durban Metropolitan Police Service, established
under the South African Police Service Amendment Act No 83 of 1998 which
allows any municipality to apply for the establishment of a municipal
police service.
Following the example of the Durban Metro
Council, most of the other metros in South Africa are in various stages
of establishing their own police service. Politicians have generated
extensive media coverage and public interest in municipal policing and
some have made extravagant promises about the contribution that
municipal policing will make to reduce crime. Given that most existing
municipal police services are focusing largely on traffic enforcement or
on work in only certain parts of the city, those expectations are
unlikely to be met in the short term.
This monograph aims to clarify the
functions of a municipal police service and the challenges they are
likely to face in fulfilling these. The monograph is based on research
carried out independently by the authors over a period of several years.
It provides an up-to-date picture of developments in Durban,
Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town, as well as the complex, lengthy
and costly process required for establishing a municipal police service.
The statutory functions of a municipal
police service (MPS) are traffic policing, policing of municipal bylaws
and regulations and preventing crime. The MPS will not conduct criminal
investigations. After arresting any person on suspicion of having
committed a criminal offence, the arrested person will be taken to a
SAPS police station as soon as possible. This interface between the MPS
and the SAPS will be critical
Some of the key challenges facing South African cities in the establishment of metropolitan police services are:
- Clarifying the role and mandate of the MPS particularly as it relates to crime prevention and co-ordination with the SAPS.
- Balancing enforcement and crime
prevention activities. Both of these activities are equally weighted in
the legislative mandate to metropolitan police services. Existing MPS`s
are focussing almost entirely on traffic enforcement and traditional law
enforcement methods of combating crime, with little attention given to
prevention
- Determining the extent to which MPS
officers will act as `peace officers` and enforce bylaws and
legislation. This will involve determining the range of legislation
which municipal police officers will have to enforce, and ensuring that
they are sufficiently skilled to perform all these functions. Training
in crime prevention and enforcement of bylaws and legislation (other
than traffic legislation) should be prioritised.
- Transforming the organisational culture
from specialist enforcement (such as traffic or planning enforcement) to
more generalist community policing approaches. The MPS will face a
steep learning curve in building effective community partnerships for
safety.
- Financing a MPS. Municipalities wishing
to establish Metro Police Services will need to find increased resources
for public safety provision, without direct financial assistance from
the national fiscus. In some municipalities, additional levies have been
proposed. It remains to be seen whether local ratepayers will be
willing to pay more in order to have a local police service.
- Dealing with demands to include former
combatants. Many municipalities are facing political pressure to
incorporate former members of the liberation armies in their new police
services. This issue has already been faced by the SAPS, without much
success.
- Ensuring political independence of local
police services. The SAPS has undergone a painful process of
transformation over the past decade, central to which has been the idea
of de-politicising the police function in South Africa. Elected
councillors and executive mayors will need to learn the same lessons
about reducing political interference in operational policing as have
their counterparts in the national and provincial legislatures.
- The effective enforcement of bylaws.
Bylaw enforcement could be used to address the `broken window` syndrome
of urban disorder and fear. However, this will require Metro Police
Officers to enforce a wide range of bylaws, and municipal courts which
are able to impose strict penalties for bylaw infringements.
- Meeting public expectations. Given that
existing MPS are focussing on traffic enforcement, expectations about
crime reductions are unlikely to be met in the short term. The provision
of visible policing, whether or not it impacts upon crime, is a central
challenge facing municipal police managers. Only by being on the
street, and being seen to act professionally, will the MPS make an
impact on public perceptions of fear and safety.
- Maintaining standards. There is likely to
be a great deal of scrutiny of municipal police agencies in this early
phase. This places pressure on managers to ensure that problems like
bribery, corruption, excessive use of force, inappropriate treatment of
victims of crime, and racism are minimised, and dealt with in a decisive
manner.
