published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

The researcher investigated and identified a municipal policing model for Mangaung Local Municipality. The five municipalities that have established a municipal police services in terms of the South African Police Service Amendment Act, Act 83/1998 were identified. Fifteen members of these municipalities who were involved in the establishment of a municipal police services, were interviewed to acquire First hand information on the process of establishing a municipal police service. The purpose of the study was to explore and therefore it required the research to be a qualitative approach, because the adversities the officials encountered were comprehended. Judgemental sampling was engaged to select participants since it was necessary to describe rather than to generalize and it also relevant to ensure that comparisons on the data collected are recognized. Three out of five municipalities that were investigated converted from traffic departments to municipal police services. Traffic officers of these municipalities undertook a bridging course determined by the National Commissioner of Police and to augment the numbers of the municipal police service members, these municipalities recruited and trained security officers. The Ethekweni municipality converted the then Durban City Police Department and other traffic departments that amalgamated with it to form a municipal police service. Unlike the other municipalities, Cape Town Metro recruited new members and trained them to formed a municipal police service in addition to the existing traffic departments and law enforcement agency. Mangaung Municipality should convert the existing traffic department and follow the route model to establish a municipal police service and augment the number of the municipal police service members by recruiting within the security division. / Criminology and Security Science / M.Tech. (Policing (School of Crtiminal Justice))

Citizen complaints about inappropriate use of force indicate negative police-public relations, unresponsive police services, and the unresponsiveness of police management to citizens' concerns. However, the effective delivery of key policing services depends on the performance of individual police officers. Surveillance technology can monitor and control the behavior of officers, ensuring that police officers provide high quality policing services that meet the needs of citizens. Examples of surveillance technology such as in-car cameras and CCTV can be used as an administrative tool to respond to citizen complaints by police chief executives. This research examines the effect of surveillance technology on the behavior of municipal police departments that is operationalized as the number of citizen complaints that were filed against municipal police departments. This research also examines the impact of surveillance technology on dismissed and sustained complaints by using 511 large municipal police departments in the U.S. from Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) 2003 dataset. Three different models are developed to evaluate the impact of in-car cameras and CCTV on the citizen complaints and their dispositions. Two ordinary least square regression (OLS) models and a Heckman selection model are used to analyze the data. The Heckman selection model is utilized to correct for selection bias in truncated data for sustained complaints after log transformation. The results suggest that the use of surveillance technology by the police is necessary, but insufficient, in reducing the number of complaints. The finding suggests that videotaped evidence, recorded by surveillance technology, increased the number of convictions of accused officers in municipal police departments. The analysis also suggests that municipal police departments that used CCTV only in 2003 received a higher number of citizen complaints, in comparison to municipal police departments without CCTV, both in 2000 and 2003. No evidence was found to indicate that surveillance technology has a positive impact on the percentage of dismissed complaints.

Thesis (M. A. (Criminology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / The study focused on Community Policing Forums (CPFs), sector policing and visible policing which are the policing strategies that are currently used to bring police officers closer to the community in order to identify and address the root causes of crime. These strategies are also meant to improve police service delivery which will satisfy and meet the community’s expectations about police services. The study also focused on factors which affect the lack of police service delivery to the community. Quantitative research design was used to evaluate Mamotintane community’s level of satisfaction with police service delivery. Non-probability sampling was used in which purposive or judgmental sampling methodology was used to select the 120 community members from Mamotintane Village. A fixed-response questionnaire that was written in English then translated in Sepedi which is the language commonly used by the target population was used in the study. A Statistical Package for Social Science (IBM SPSS Statistics Version 22) software was then used to analyse the data which was presented in a form of graphs and tables. Summary of the empirical findings are that a large number of 33% community members disagree that CPFs are successfully established in the community where police officers have regular meetings with community members in order to discuss about crimes which are affecting the community. A large number of 43% respondents strongly agree that police corruption has a negative impact to the community.

The dissertation deals with the disciplinary process of the South African Police Service - perceptions and preferences of members in the North Rand area of the Gauteng Province. A research question " How members of the SAPS in the North Rand area of the Gauteng Province perceive the disciplinary process" is investigated in this study. The researcher has conducted a quantitative research in the North Rand area of the Gauteng Province using questionnaires and literature study as the research method. The answer to the research question in this study is that members of the SAPS have a negative attitude towards the disciplinary process of the SAPS. There is also uncertainty about the duties of certain role players during the disciplinary process. / Public Administration / M.A. (Public Administration)

The research question of this study is to determine what circumstances and conditions contribute to deaths in police cells. The study was undertaken in order to establish the causes of deaths in police cells and the factors which contribute thereto, as well as to determine the best international practices to prevent deaths in police cells. The literature was reviewed in order to establish the extent to which this phenomenon has been researched in South Africa and in other countries and to determine the regulatory framework related thereto. The researcher had collected data from the dockets relating to deaths in police cells which were kept at the IPID provincial offices in Gauteng and Limpopo. The data were collected by using the docket analysis schedule and were categorised into themes during the analysis process. Four cause of deaths in police cells were identified, namely, suicide, natural causes, assault by fellow detainees and injuries which were sustained prior to detention. Suicide is the leading cause of deaths. The second leading causes of deaths in police cells are natural causes and assault by fellow detainees. Deaths as a result of injuries sustained prior to detention came third. The most common ligatures which were used to commit suicide are shoe-laces, belts and strips torn from clothing and bedding items. The preferred ligature points are the burglar proof bars on cell windows. Booted feet and hands were the most common instruments used to inflict fatal injuries on the detainees. It was also found that police officials are generally not complying fully with the standing orders which regulate the management of people who are detained in police cells. The failure of police officials to comply fully with the standing orders on custody in police cells contributed to the deaths of detainees in police cells. Recommendations are made to prevent the deaths of detainees in police cells. / Police Practice / M. Tech. (Policing)

As an approach to solve the crime problems affecting all the citizens of this country, South Africa adopted the sector policing concept. This approach is also seen as a means of bringing the community and the police closer by appointing sector commanders who do community liaison and problem-solving work in the geographically demarcated sectors. Sector policing is not a strategy on its own, as stated in the Final Draft National Instruction of Sector policing of 2003, the connection between sector policing and community-policing philosophy is very clear. Sector policing it described as a practical manifestation of community policing. The key elements of sector policing are its geographic focus, problem-solving methodologies and community consultation. On 13 July 2009, it (sector policing) became an official policing instrument in the country. The sanctioning of sector policing proposed that in the nine (9) South African provinces, 45 police stations (5 stations per province) implemented sector policing and the remainder had to be implemented before the end of 2012. As of now (2014), the assumption could be made that all police stations in South Africa implemented this strategy. Therefore, it should now be imperative to analyse the implementation in a specific area, for instance Soweto, where it had been in existence for a while, as well as to determine its effectiveness in this area. The results of the study summarily indicated that the efficiency and effectiveness of sector policing in Soweto is predominately reliant on sectors demarcation into manageable sizes and the provision of adequate and sufficient resources. / Police Practice / M. Tech. (Policing)

This study sought to identify and explore the contributing factors responsible for the rate of high absenteeism, as a result of sick leave, at the South African Police Service (SAPS) Academy in Paarl. The research also explored international best practices in the management of absenteeism in police organizations. Furthermore, and most importantly, the study puts forward a set of recommendations to the management of SAPS regarding improvements that could address absenteeism and, ultimately, improve service delivery. Data was collected by means of a literature study coupled with semi-structured individual interviews. The interviews were conducted with the most diligent members of the group employees of the SAPS Academy in Paarl who had taken the least sick leave during the 2009-2012 leave cycle. A thorough literature review was conducted; this literature study focused on SAPS directives, inter alia, standing orders, regulations, national instructions and national legislation. In addition, national and international literature on absenteeism in the workplace was consulted. The findings of the study illustrate the impact of absenteeism on service delivery at the SAPS Academy, Paarl. It was established that absenteeism impacts on the morale of diligent members and, in turn, creates innumerable challenges for managers. The recommendations made in this study could contribute towards addressing and alleviating the impact of excessive absenteeism on service delivery at the SAPS Academy, Paarl. In addition, these recommendations could contribute towards addressing these matters within the broader SAPS body in and other government organizations, since absenteeism in the workplace is a general phenomenon. / Police Practice / M. Tech. (Policing)

The aim of the research was to understand the kind of relationship that exists among officers and other stakeholders in prevention of crime, regarding the purposes of fighting crime in the Zambezi region. This research would want to determine the strength of the relationships and the roles of trust between the police and society to address the research question which exactly refers to what is to be investigated. A qualitative design was used, an approach that involved the analysing and interpreting texts as well as interviews. The study established that there is a poor relationship among stakeholders who actually maintain law and order and that the majority of them were the main contributing factors for the poor implementation of community policing which resulted in poor crime prevention as well. Community policing can only be effectively implemented under the mandate and function of community policing forums as stipulated in the Namibian Police Act 19 of 1990. / Police Practice / M. Tech. (Policing)