Towards Ethical and Effective Policing in the South African Police Services’ Crime Prevention Environment

The South African Police Service (SAPS) has implemented a shift system in which police officers are scheduled to work for four consecutive days, resulting in a total of 48 hours per week. The implementation of the 12-hour shift pattern has been found to have an adverse effect on police officers. Consequently, this appears to have a detrimental effect on police effectiveness. Studies investigating the effects of the 12-hour shift have revealed that this work schedule significantly influences the reaction time, sleep patterns, and overall health of police officers, thereby impacting their performance. This study aims to provide a qualitative analysis of the effects of the 12-hour shift on police performance at Pretoria Central (SAPS) Police Station in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Data was collected from eight (8) individuals from the SAPS, namely at Pretoria Central Police Station, using semi-structured interviews. The participants have suggested that officials in the SAPS should evaluate the existing shift structure and increase the deployment of police officers at the police station. This would help alleviate the workload of the officers and enhance service delivery.

Democratising the South African police became one of the key challenges in the aftermath of the apartheid regime. We explored the contours of police integrity – one of the key elements of democratic policing – within the South African national police service. In 2005, questionnaires containing hypothetical cases of police corruption were collected from 379 police officers from seven provinces and autonomous territories. Compelling evidence was found that the South African Police Service (SAPS) faces severe challenges to its integrity. A non-trivial percentage of respondents did not recognise even the most severe forms of police corruption as violations of official rules. The respondents expected relatively mild discipline to be meted out for some of the most severe violations of official rules. The empirical evidence further indicates that a substantial minority of SAPS supervisors would protect many forms of police corruption from exposure. Moreover, the respondents hired after apartheid expressed attitudes associated with an even lower level of police integrity.

In 1996 social work in the newly constituted South African Police Service (SAPS) was at a crossroad. The era of the South African Police (SAP) had ended with the promulgation of the South African Police Service Act (Act 68/1995) on 4 October 1995. The South African Police Service (SAPS) was in the process of implementing a new policy that emphasised the empowerment of personnel in the interests of effective service delivery within a transforming organisation and society. At the same time however, SAPS was facing an increase in the incidence of social problems among its 120 000 members. A choice had to be made. It was either to stick to the therapy-centred approach that had become the norm in the SAP, or try to conceptualise an alternative service-delivery paradigm. The choice fell on the latter. The result was the operationalised version of social work’s strengths approach that now forms the basis of occupational social work in the SAPS

<p><strong>Objective.</strong> To determine compliance with Section 40 (1-3) of the Mental Health Care Act (MHCA) No 17 of 2002, viz. handing over custody by the South African Police Service (SAPS) of suspected mentally ill patients to medical services at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital (CHBH).</p><p><strong>Methods.</strong> The study was a retrospective record review of patients who were 18 years and older, referred by SAPS to CHBH. In accordance with Section 40 of the MHCA, a MHCA form 22 is completed when suspected mentally ill patients are handed over by SAPS to the medical services. MHCA forms 22 that were completed during the period July 2007 to December 2007 were obtained from hospital records and analysed to determine the compliance of SAPS and medical practitioners in completing them. <strong></strong></p><p><strong>Results.</strong> During the study period, 708 of the 718 patients handed over by SAPS to the Emergency Department of CHBH were entered on MHCA forms 22. SAPS officials had correctly completed 86% of the forms, whereas the medical practitioners had only correctly completed 9.9% of the forms. Of the 718 patients handed over by SAPS, 319 (44%) were discharged for outpatient care.</p><p><strong>Conclusion.</strong> The findings of this study suggest that not all parties fully comply with Section 40 of the Mental Health Care Act No 17 of 2002. We suggest that the situation can be improved by training of all parties; amendments to the MHCA form 22; partnership between mental health care practitioners and members of SAPS; and combining resources towards implementing a crisis intervention model similar to that in other countries.</p>

South Africa is one of the most violent countries in the world with different types of violence associated with crime, gender-based violence, and sexual violence amongst others. While the South African Police Service (SAPS) is supposed to protect the most vulnerable victims of violence in communities, they are also the perpetrators of violence in various forms of police brutality such as using excessive force and torture which leads to death in some cases. Police brutality is not a new phenomenon in South Africa; the South African Police (SAP) during apartheid was para-military and known for its brutality. It was transformed into SAPS in democratic South Africa to regard human dignity in policing. However, police brutality is still a major problem, especially towards the poor in society. This was also evident during the COVID-19 lockdown as South Africa was one of the top countries that had the most brutal lockdown enforcement in the world. This article provides a theological reflection on police brutality from the biblical text Mark 2:18-22 ‘…no one pours new wine into old wineskins…’ This article argues that the SAPS has not transformed regarding policing that upholds human dignity. It argues that SAPS is losing confidence in communities as wounds of the past are re-emerging. This article proposes Ubuntu in the SAPS for its transformation and emphasises collaborative efforts to combat police brutality, heal wounds, and restore human dignity.

BackgroundIn South Africa, the South African Police Service (SAPS) is often called to facilitate access to mental healthcare for individuals with severe behavioural disturbances posing risks to themselves or others, as outlined in the Mental Health Care Act (2002). Understanding the experiences of mental healthcare users (MHCUs) and their families during these encounters is essential for improving mental health services.AimTo explore the experiences of MHCUs and their families during interactions with SAPS when seeking assistance for hospital admission, focusing on perceptions of SAPS attitudes and responses.SettingThe study was conducted at the outpatient and inpatient psychiatric departments of Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Southern Johannesburg.MethodsBetween June and December 2023, 15 semi structured interviews were conducted with five inpatients, five outpatients, and five family members. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed inductively to identify emergent themes.ResultsFive major themes emerged, highlighting confusion, fear, and feelings of criminalisation. Participants reported inadequate SAPS support, with the escalation of force often worsening anxiety and distress. Families were frequently misinformed, including being advised to call an ambulance, which delayed care. SAPS involvement often led to public embarrassment, affecting MHCUs’ dignity.ConclusionSAPS responses to mental health emergencies frequently increased distress among MHCUs and families. The findings highlight the need for SAPS training and clear protocols to manage psychiatric crises with care and sensitivity.ContributionThis study informs interventions aimed at improving SAPS–MHCU interactions.

Orientation: The South African Police Service is facing significant challenges in retaining its staff. A total rewards strategy could help the South African Police Service to enhance staff retention. Research purpose: This study explored the role of a total rewards strategy in retaining South African police officers in Limpopo province. Motivation of the study: The shortage of police officials has a negative effect on the South African Police Service’s endeavours to retain its employees. Research approach, design and method: This was a qualitative research study where semi-structured interviews were conducted on the sample size of 14 police officers in Limpopo. Main findings: The outcomes revealed that performance management, career development and employees’ compensation were ineffectively applied to police stations. Employees were firmly thinking about leaving the police because of poor rewards. The members were genuinely happy with their work benefits and work–life balance. Practical/managerial implications: The South African Police Services should implement total reward strategy to improve staff retention. Contribution/value-add: This study presented challenging areas in the reward framework of the South African Police Service employees and the subsequent impact thereof on their turnover intentions.

Numerous scholars have contributed to the police culture body of knowledge (Cockcroft 2013; O’Neill, Marks & Singh 2007; Sklansky 2005). They submit that the traditional understanding of police culture is no longer relevant due to the new developments that have transpired in policing, which have consequently changed the police culture. More specifically, they suggest that the South African Police Service (SAPS) too has witnessed changes in the traits of its police culture that accentuate the cynicism of and isolation from the public. This article is an attempt to challenge this narrative by comparing the police culture themes of solidarity, isolation, and cynicism attitudes of two different cohorts of new South African Police Service (SAPS) recruits separated by ten years. By making use of the 30-item police culture themes of solidarity, isolation, and cynicism questionnaire, designed by Steyn (2005), the article establishes that a representative sample (138 out of a population of 140) of new SAPS recruits from the SAPS Chatsworth Basic Training Institute (August 2015), have remarkably similar attitudes in support of police culture themes of solidarity, isolation, and cynicism, compared to a representative sample of all new SAPS recruits that started their basic training in January 2005 (Steyn, 2005). Although small in representation, the study refutes the claims that traditional understandings of police culture are no longer relevant and that the traits of the police culture in the South African Police Service (SAPS) has so changed that it accentuates the cynicism of and isolation from the public.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the contribution of the public component of Klockars’ and Kutnjak‐Ivkovic's organizational theory of police integrity to the understanding of police integrity.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs a modified survey derived from “The Measurement of Police Integrity,” instrument developed by Klockars et al. Participants are constituted by a convenience sample of first‐year social studies students at the University of KwaZulu‐Natal (n=186) and 160 South African Police Service (SAPS) non‐commissioned officers throughout Gauteng Province, Republic of South Africa.FindingsOverall, the data present a mixed picture of integrity in the SAPS. The current study is certainly suggestive that the SAPS faces serious challenges to establishing and sustaining integrity and that based on either absolutist or normative criteria, the organization falls below desired levels of professional integrity. However, there are also indications that a significant proportion of officers will support efforts of the organization to establish and maintain professional standards of integrity.Practical implicationsThe findings, focused on non‐commissioned officers, contribute to a growing body of research across all levels of the SAPS. In addition, the research compares results from a non‐police sample, helping to contextualize the concept of integrity as it exists within the SAPS. More immediate implications relate to the potential for the development of a broad‐based integrity plan for the SAPS as a whole.Originality/valuePrevious research employing police only samples has concluded that the SAPS is an integrity‐challenged organization. While the present study agrees that the SAPS faces significant integrity challenges, the use of a comparative non‐policing sample also suggests that the Service is having some success in establishing integrity standards, at least in regard to lower level violations of organizational ethical standards.

The purpose of the paper is to explore the South African Police Services (SAPS) measures in fighting against woman and child abuse in South Africa since 1994. The challenges and successes within the campaigns against abuse are also highlighted. Police crime statistics released in September 2012 state that in 2011/2012 there were a total of 9 193 sexual offences reported to the SAPS in the Western Cape. The SAPS has recently re-introduced the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) units throughout the country to ensure that crimes against women and children are adequately addressed by the police. Legislation includes amongst: The Domestic Violence Act 116 of 1998, the Protection from Harassment Act 17 of 2011, and Children's Act No. 38 of 2005. The findings further revealed that the SAPS face challenges when fighting against abuse. Amongst the challenges are the unreported cases of abuse and victims withdrawing their cases because of financial dependency on the offender. Sixteen Days of Activism on No Violence against Women and Children it is a major campaign that is used by SAPS to address abuse. The paper used secondary data, collected from various scholarly documents on woman and child abuse. The paper draws conclusion from the findings obtained in the existing literature and makes recommendations on how SAPS can improve in the prevention of women and child abuse in South Africa.

This study explores the challenges of forensic technology in responding to Identity Document (ID) theft as an approach used by the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the Polokwane policing area. This study further evaluates the availability of technological and conventional resources to respond to this scourge, as well as the capabilities of the SAPS to utilise the available [lack of forensic technology] resources to respond best to ID theft. This was done by analysing preventative measures, associated with these challenges, as faced by SAPS and other relevant stakeholders on responding to this crime in the Polokwane Central Business District (CBD), Bendor Park, and Flora Park, coupled with the number of stores situated in the business sectors of these selected areas. For this study, the researchers adopted a quantitative research approach with 90 respondents in the identified areas. This study established that the secretive nature of ID theft makes it difficult for the relevant stakeholders (Not limited to the local SAPS, Businesses, and Public members as presented by this study) to effectively respond to this scourge. Negatively, the forefront gatekeepers to respond to this crime are mainly SAPS Constables with less training to investigates ID theft properly. Thus, find themselves being more reactive than proactive, which contributes to the difficulty of locating potential perpetrators in the process of conventional investigations applications. Furthermore, ID thieves utilise advanced technological resources (I.e. Computer hacking software), as opposed to SAPS which does not have systems nor capacity to effectively respond to this crime. The limited resources at the disposal of SAPS also renders its effort in responding to this crime inadequate. For recommendations; significant emphases should be directed on the promotion of public awareness through public education for the use of forensic technology as an investigative and identification tool of responding to ID theft. The intensive training of SAPS officials and inter-governmental corroboration between SAPS, Department of Home Affairs (DHA), and other relevant stakeholders in understanding this technology are highly advised.

This article is written in light of the increasing number of civil actions brought against the South African Police Service (SAPS). Among the most recent cases is that of a Witbank woman and her daughter who instituted an action for damages because an escaped prisoner shot and killed the woman’s husband with a service pistol that the prisoner had stolen from the police. Another related claim is that of Mr Gerber who was shot during an armed robbery at his home in a security complex. Mr Gerber claimed R5.6 million from the Minister of Safety and Security for failing to protect South African citizens. In this article I analyse cases brought against the SAPS. I further illustrate that the state is liable for any delictual act committed by the SAPS, and that the state has a legal duty to protect its citizens and prevent them from harm or any form of violence. However, this does not justify the increasing number of civil actions instituted against the SAPS. My submission investigates whether there is any form of defence on which the state can rely – not to escape liability, but to uphold the functions, duties and reputation of the SAPS. I will argue that the monetary amounts claimed in these civil actions are not in the best interest of the public or that of the SAPS.

Orientation: The extensive role that social support plays in the lives of South African Police Service (SAPS) members outside of the expected work networks of professionals and colleagues should be further studied to reflect on the benefits received when handling the stressful and traumatic effects of operational work.Research purpose: The objective of this study was to describe the concepts of multifaceted social support network systems as perceived by SAPS members in the context of the Vhembe District (South Africa) in assisting them to deal with the effects of their operational work.Motivation for the study: There is still a call in social research to focus on the influence of different functions and sources of social support.Research design, approach and method: A descriptive phenomenological research design was used, and 20 SAPS participants were selected through purposive sampling. Unstructured,face-to-face interviews, field notes, telephone follow-ups and diaries were used to collect data which was subsequently analysed through phenomenological explication.Main findings: The results show that social support is not a linear process but is multifaceted,depending on specific operational settings. Furthermore, the social support network system identified is informed by the values of communal living in the Vhembe District as well as in the operational context in which the SAPS members work.Practical/managerial implications: The SAPS should help initiate and involve, during the debriefing of operational members, types and functions of social support that are dependent on organisational and community contexts.Contribution/value-add: This study makes a meaningful contribution to understanding that social support in the SAPS operational context is different from other contexts.

Performance monitoring, often based on the use of performance indicators, has become a central aspect of the work of government departments in South Africa. Even though the South African Police Service (SAPS) is regarded as one of the leading government departments in the use of performance monitoring systems, it does not use performance information in a critical enough manner, particularly given the risk that the introduction of performance measures will lead to perverse incentives. Given that the SAPS is one of the largest police services in the world, the centralised reporting on organisational performance in the annual report is ineffective. It obscures much more than it reveals about what is being achieved by the organisation. Since 2005 the Auditor General of South Africa has been phasing in a ‘predetermined objectives’ audit that involves checking on the reliability of the performance information presented by the SAPS. Though he has limited capacity to do so, the AG also carries out what are called ‘performance audits’, that involve deeper and more focused scrutiny of the functioning of government departments. A 2008-09 performance audit on service delivery at police stations and 10111 call centres highlights the type of scrutiny that the SAPS needs to be subjected to if information on its performance is to become more meaningful.

The drivers of HIV/AIDS in the South African Police Service (SAPS) and impact of the disease on this workforce are neglected areas of research. Existing evidence suggests that while the occupational risk for contracting HIV is low, there are factors associated with the profession that, if left unmanaged, place police officers at risk of contracting HIV. This study's two aims are to identify the potential pathways of HIV infection within policing services and determine the probable impact of HIV/AIDS on SAPS. Through a systematic literature review on HIV/AIDS within police services, and by analysing selected SAPS human resource data, the causal pathways and impact of HIV/AIDS on police services are explored. The study finds that police officers (particularly male officers) are likely to be highly susceptible to HIV infection as a result of risky sexual behaviours born out of occupational characteristics such as high levels of stress, difficult working conditions, living away from home and interactions with sex workers. The problem is exacerbated by the ‘macho’ culture that often prevails among police officers. HIV/AIDS interventions within SAPS must focus on sustained behaviour change. Further, HIV programmes must equip officers with the knowledge and awareness to avoid engaging in high-risk sexual practices that may compromise their health and the effectiveness of the policing service.