Community Policing

Introduction to global politics (pols102)

Student number: 217006173

Surname: Mathenjwa
names: mbali khanyisile

Tutor: nondumiso

Lecture: reema nunlall

Date of submission: 05/10/2017

Essay title: community policing

Signature:

Community policing is not a limited effort to be tried and then withdrawn but instead is a new way of delivering police service to the community. This essay is going to explore the concept and the origin of community policing, the goals and principles of community policing, and the challenges of community policing.

According to Clegg et al, “Community policing refers specifically to providing a service to those who need it the most, to police respect for human rights and giving particular attention to crimes in the community.” (2000: p2). Basically, community policing can be defined generally as a way of policing where member of the local community and the local police force act together to prevent crime and public disorders with police patrols. Mistry also defines the concept of community policing in his view as, “a platform where community members, organizations, relevant stakeholders, and the police meet to discuss local crime prevention initiatives.” (1996: p1).

Clegg et al notes out five core elements of community policing in South Africa namely Service Orientation, Partnership, Problem-Solving, Empowerment and Accountability. Clegg describes the first element of Service Orientation as, “The provision of a professional policing service that is responsive to community needs and accountable for addressing those needs.” (2000: p41). The next element that Clegg describe is Partnership as, “The facilitation of a cooperative, consultative process of problem solving.” (2000: p41). Thirdly, Problem-solving as, “The joint identification and analysis of the causes of crime, conflict and the development of innovative measures to address the community issues.” (2000: p41). Fourthly, Empowerment as, “The creation of joint responsibility and capacity for addressing crime.” (2000: p41). Lastly, which is Accountability as, “The creation of a culture of accountability for addressing the needs and concerns of the communities.” (2000: p41). These elements play a significant role when one philosopher defines the concept of community policing.

According to Rauch et al, “One version of the origin of community policing concept in South Africa is that it was picked up by a senior Police Officer who attended a conference of US Police Agencies in 1993 and was also adopted by a senior Police Officer who was attending a training course in Britain in 1994 where he had the opportunity to examine community policing practices and documents in London.” (2002: p21). Rauch et al also notes that, “The drafting of the 1998 White Paper on Safety and Security by a policy team in the Secretariat for Safety and Security offered the first official guidelines on implementing community policing as part of the effort against crimes in certain parts of Gauteng under the auspices of the SAPS Project in Johannesburg.” (2002: p22).

SAPS Act of 68 of 1995, legislated community policing as the mainly recognized consultative designed to permit communities to make their policing concerns known to the police and to allow the community to participate in reducing the crime rate in the community, Clegg et al (2000: p2). Mistry notes that, “In South Africa, Gauteng was the first province to implement community through establishing Community Policing Forum on a large scale. Thus, in 1994 the MEC for Safety and Security in Gauteng contracted the Gauteng Community Policing Project to facilitate the formation of CPFs in the province.” (1996: p4).

According to Minaar, “Section 18 of the South African Police Service Act No. 68 of 1995 tells us what are the goals and objectives of community policing.” (2009: p14). Drawn from the Sample Constitution for Community Police Forum by Minaar in Section 3, the Forum goals should be, “Making the police and the local community partners against crime, helping the police and the community to engage in identifying and solving problems to do with crime, improving communication and relations between the police and the community, helping the police and the community to find ways to make the police service transparent and accountable, encouraging the media to be fair when they tell people about police actions, promoting  respect for human rights, work together with other institutions in the local community, tracking the police service including complaints; charges and patrolling, helping different cultural groups to understand each other, and acting in a mature and polite way when working with the police.” (2009: p14).

Basically, the main goal of community policing is to meet the community’s needs of security by enforcing law with determining effective strategies that could make policing more efficient and insure that the community is protected from the fear of crime. Clegg et al notes that, “One of the primary goals of community policing policy is the fundamental transformation of policing which has frequently not transpired as envisaged.” (2000: p44). Considering the needs of the community, the goals of community policing should mainly focus on promotion of accountability of the local police to the community and cooperation of the community with the local police, ensuring the effectiveness and efficiency of the police serving the community, examination and advice on local policing priorities, evaluation of the provision of services such as distribution of resources, the way complaints and charges are handled, and securing of residential and business areas to reduce crime.

According to Pelser, “There are ten principles that should inform all policies, procedures and practices associated with community policing and many groups use them as a guide when referring to specific justification of certain decisions or actions.” (2002: p4/5). These principles are known as Philosophy and Organizational strategy, Commitment to community Empowerment, Decentralized and Personalized Policing, Immediate and long term Proactive Problem-Solving, ethics; legality; responsibility and trust, expanding the police mandate, helping those with special needs, grass-roots creativity and support, internal change and lastly, building for the future.

Below that are three main principles that are going to be described thoroughly. Pelser describes the first principle of philosophy and organizational strategy as that, “The philosophy rests on the belief that people deserve input into the police process, in exchange for their participation and support. It also rests on the belief that solutions to today’s community problems demand freeing both people and explore creative new ways to address neighborhood concerns beyond a narrow focus on individual crime incidents.” (2002: p4).