Ramifications of the lockdown on community police relations during the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa

Abstract

Societies` views concerning the Criminal Justice System institutions are shaped not only by opportunities to interact with such institutions during normal work but also in part by efforts due to the larger mission (of these institutions) of encouraging and supporting such attitudes. Due to the global COVID 19 pandemic, most countries have implemented a lockdown as an initiative to control the spread of the virus. South Africa is no exception as the country joined most countries and announced the national lockdown in March 2020. With the national lockdown, Criminal Justice agencies such as the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) were deployed across the country to ensure compliance with the lockdown regulations. The police are the most visible and powerful arm of the state, the nature of the state and the way it is perceived has a profound impact on police-community relations and vice versa. With South Africa’s pronouncement of the national lockdown and state of emergency due to the pandemic, more inquiries and investigations into police practice during the national lockdown will be made. It is precisely in this context that this study aims to reflect on police-community relations during the national lockdown. A criminological analysis on the ramifications of the dented police-community relations due to the national lockdown will be explored. With the national lockdown regulations, clearly gazetted, this study will also employ criminological theories to further interrogate the regulations that impacted on the dented police-community relations.