Every year, the expectation of a festive-season increase in crime is typically accompanied by the deployment of additional police. A common refrain from the authorities is that this will increase police visibility, often embodied in the phrase “more boots on the ground”.
On December 11 national police commissioner Fannie Masemola announced the deployment of 10,000 newly trained police officers. He said this would “heighten and enhance police visibility”.
Earlier in November, while speaking to the portfolio committee on police, minister of police Bheki Cele lamented that declining numbers in the ranks would result in lower police visibility. Visibility is “a big portion of policing”, he said.
These views on police numbers have serious flaws and reflect the government’s lack of attention to key policy issues. Investment in sustaining or increasing the number of police should have a far more clearly defined purpose.
From a peak of 199,345 in 2012, the total number of South African Police Service (SAPS) personnel declined to 176,180 at the end of March 2022. Excluding administrative staff, police numbers in March (139,935) were 15,599 down from 155,534 in 2012.
Data from StatsSA appears to confirm that the falling numbers contributed to reduced police visibility. Between 2011 and 2018, the percentage of people reporting they had seen officers “at least once a day” fell from 44% to 33%. (Since 2018 StatsSA’s survey reports no longer provide data on this issue.)
The 10,000 new members recruited this year and an additional 15,000 due to be recruited by 2025 will do little to reverse this decline because the SAPS loses about 5,000 members every year due to retirements, resignations, deaths and dismissals.
A recent report by the public economy project at Wits University expressed concerns that declining personnel numbers would harm the delivery of policing services, particularly to poorer South Africans.
The emphasis on quantity over quality is often reflected in very low admission criteria and the fact that police compensate for their salaries through parasitic forms of corruption
The idea of visibility is embedded in the mythology of modern policing through the idea of “the Bobby on the beat”.
But international research indicates that general police visibility (“random patrol”) has no discernible impact on crime, though reductions in crime can be achieved through deployment of police to crime “hotspots” (“targeted patrol”).
Fiscal constraints that limit the government’s ability to enlarge the SAPS are likely to be long-term. State police services in developing countries such as South Africa can only employ large numbers of police if they pay very poor salaries.
The emphasis on quantity over quality is often reflected in very low admission criteria and the fact that police compensate for their salaries through parasitic forms of corruption.
Admission criteria for the SAPS are relatively low, merely requiring a matric. But the pay is not negligible.
Members of the visible policing division make up roughly two-thirds of all police. Their salaries accounted for R41bn of the R78.5bn spent by the SAPS on salaries in the 2021-2022 financial year.
Every police recruit represents a considerable financial commitment. Recruitment is followed by two years of training and potentially means permanent employment and a pension.
This state investment should be linked more directly to ensuring that people with suitable education and skills and a good record of conduct are brought into the service.
Rather than the vague concept of “visibility”, recruitment into the uniformed component of the SAPS should be premised on clearly defined expectations about the role officers will perform in addressing crime.
Engagement with the public rather than mere visibility ... might involve intervention in domestic or other disputes or facilitating local problem-solving initiatives
Uniformed police need to be embedded in the communities. This should mean they are expected to maintain contact and engagement with members of the public, rather than mere visibility. Such contact might involve intervention in domestic or other disputes or facilitating local problem-solving initiatives targeted at the reduction of crime.
SAPS recruitment should focus on ensuring that many more uniformed personnel have better interpersonal or organisation skills. It is only through high-quality engagements that local trust, legitimacy and co-operation can be secured.
Recruitment should not be premised on maintaining SAPS visibility. But visibility does have value. It may not reduce crime but if police are trusted they can contribute to improved feelings of safety, thereby enhancing people’s quality of life.
The need for people to feel safe should not be neglected. But the system that is maintained and developed for this purpose should involve guarding or patrolling capacities that are not linked to employment in the SAPS or metro police departments.
This is not to suggest something entirely new. Private security companies are already the main visible policing presence in some areas. Neighbourhood watches and other community patrol systems have also multiplied in South Africa.
In Cape Town, the law enforcement advancement plan has employed more than 1,000 municipal law enforcement officers, who work alongside the SAPS in high-crime areas. Cele has recognised the importance of formations of this kind that “enhance the policing footprint”.
Auxiliary policing systems like these are found in many countries. In response to financial cutbacks, police in the UK have also invested in forms of auxiliary policing, such as the police community support officer (PCSO) system. While typical constables receive between two and three years of training, PCSOs receive between one and three months.
Clearly defined limits on the powers of such personnel is essential for such a system to work.
In November Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi indicated that crime prevention wardens that he plans to recruit in Gauteng would carry out “stop and search” operations.
If so, they would exercise powers that go far beyond those exercised by private security companies or neighbourhood watch patrols.
Internationally such powers have been controversial even when exercised by police forces themselves. Further formalisation of auxiliary policing in South Africa should not involve extending any form of coercive powers to them beyond those already exercised by civilians.
The cash crunch facing the government is an incentive to move towards a policing system that is appropriate to the “developing world” context of South Africa.
Further investment in SAPS recruitment should not be premised on the need to maintain officer visibility but on more clearly defined policing skills and roles.
In terms of setting people’s minds at rest about crime, the focus should be on auxiliary systems that are not based on long-term state employment. For this to work it is essential that they be trusted by citizens and be characterised by high standards of conduct and integrity.
• Bruce is an independent researcher on policing and consultant to the Institute for Security Studies
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