Top Stories
0 sec ago
Crime in SA | Role of community safety structures
Following South Africa's democratic change, Community Policing Forums emerged as a response to low trust levels in police.
JOHANNESBURG - If police cannot curb crime, what role can communities play?
Following South Africa's democratic change, Community Policing Forums emerged as a response to low trust levels in police.
The forums have continued since then on the assumption that they make local policing more effective and accountable.
But with crime levels rising and police trust falling, police researcher David Bruce believes these forums should be reexamined to work better for communities.
"The one big thing is that there's been a major shift towards increasing involvement of community members in various forms of kind of patrol groups, neighbourhood watches and other types of formations of this kind.
READ: Crime in SA | 'Amabherethe' to be deployed to Finetown
"And in many ways, this could be seen to be a reflection of the fact that many people see participation in community police forums as not achieving very much," Bruce said.
"So there's obviously a need for a more considered approach, an approach to these issues of community involvement in local safety which is based on more of an understanding of what is actually working, what's effective and so on."