Abstract
In 2006, the South African Police Service underwent a massive restructuring aimed at eliminating the ‘area’ level (a functional level of services located between stations and the provincial level) and placing specially trained staff at provincial or station level. The FCS (family violence, child protection and sexual offences) units were among the services affected by this change. In 2007/08, RAPCAN (Resources Aimed at the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect) undertook a research project to review the impact of the change. The project included nine provincial workshops involving FCS staff and others, as well as a literature review of international trends. The study found that there is no longer a national pattern that demonstrates dedicated personnel and resources and specialised management of FCS cases. The study also found that South Africa is out of step with comparable poor and middle-income countries in effectively shifting away from specialised services. The study recommends that the SAPS implement a medium-term plan for the improvement of FCS services, with a focus on ensuring a continued increase in access to services, and a concomitant focus in ensuring the quality of these services.
Highlights
Protection had seemed to be on a trajectory towards specialisation, starting with the introduction of the child protection units
Several themes dominated the statements of concern made by civil society commentators in response to the restructuring. These included that specially trained FCS detectives would be utilised for the investigation of other cases; that victims would be exposed to secondary trauma if their cases were handled by personnel that did not have appropriate training or experience; and that the new managers of FCS detectives at station level would be unequipped to provide specialised management and direction to their staff.[4], and specialised management
The FCS units were the end result of developments that started in the late 1980s and initially resulted in the establishment of child protection units, whose mandate was to address matters relating to child protection both of a criminal and non-criminal nature
Summary
In 2006, the South African Police Service underwent a massive restructuring aimed at eliminating the ‘area’ level (a functional level of services located between stations and the provincial level) and placing specially trained staff at provincial or station level. Several themes dominated the statements of concern made by civil society commentators in response to the restructuring These included that specially trained FCS detectives would be utilised for the investigation of other cases; that victims would be exposed to secondary trauma if their cases were handled by personnel that did not have appropriate training or experience; and that the new managers of FCS detectives at station level would be unequipped to provide specialised management and direction to their staff.[4]. An analysis of the budget shows that in the 2002/03 financial year, the SAPS allocated increased resources to improving FCS units, which is evidence of an intention to strengthen those services at the time.[6] This was in line with other developments nationally that were aimed at attending to the rights and needs of crime victims. This article presents a summary of the findings and recommendations from that study
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