{"title":"Policing in South Africa: A Critical Evaluation","authors":"D. Govender, K. Pillay","doi":"10.1177/09750878211048169","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"High crime rates, use of violence by criminals, police brutality, corruption, rape by police officials and other forms of criminal misconduct against the police including the centralisation of specific specialised functions of policing, which was tantamount to taking away policing from the people at police station level, are some of the allegations which affects the image of the police as a legitimate organisation. Much of these allegations levelled by the community and the mass media are directed at the external and internal environments of the police. The aim of this article is to critically evaluate policing in South Africa, so that respect for the country and its citizens can be restored. For this discussion, the researcher collected qualitative information by means of a literature study and drew on his personal experience as a former senior police officer with the South African Police Service (SAPS). Prior to 1994, the call was for the rationalisation, restructuring and amalgamation of the police into a single police service that would enjoy legitimacy among all the communities of South Africa. Although the country embraced a new democratic dispensation in 1994, very little was done to implement transformational policies and processes to bring about systemic change in policing. A need for the change of the functioning of the police service in South Africa was identified, so that police officers may perform their role within the context of democratic principles and restore respect for the country and its citizens.","PeriodicalId":42199,"journal":{"name":"Insight on Africa","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8000,"publicationDate":"2021-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Insight on Africa","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09750878211048169","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"AREA STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
High crime rates, use of violence by criminals, police brutality, corruption, rape by police officials and other forms of criminal misconduct against the police including the centralisation of specific specialised functions of policing, which was tantamount to taking away policing from the people at police station level, are some of the allegations which affects the image of the police as a legitimate organisation. Much of these allegations levelled by the community and the mass media are directed at the external and internal environments of the police. The aim of this article is to critically evaluate policing in South Africa, so that respect for the country and its citizens can be restored. For this discussion, the researcher collected qualitative information by means of a literature study and drew on his personal experience as a former senior police officer with the South African Police Service (SAPS). Prior to 1994, the call was for the rationalisation, restructuring and amalgamation of the police into a single police service that would enjoy legitimacy among all the communities of South Africa. Although the country embraced a new democratic dispensation in 1994, very little was done to implement transformational policies and processes to bring about systemic change in policing. A need for the change of the functioning of the police service in South Africa was identified, so that police officers may perform their role within the context of democratic principles and restore respect for the country and its citizens.
期刊介绍:
nsight on Africa is a biannual peer-reviewed academic journal covering contemporary African affairs and issues of policy relevance. It focuses on, though not confined to, foreign policies and developmental issues of African countries. The journal specially encourages article submission on issues related to emerging powers in Africa, BRICS in Africa and Afro-Asian relations. The journal is owned by African Studies Association of India (ASA India) located at Centre for African Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and its publication is managed by Policy Research Institute of African Studies Association (PRIASA) based in New Delhi.