Community Safety
Whether he and his Department have taken measures to promote good relations between the South African Police Service and communities in the province; if not, why not; if so, what steps have been taken in (a) 2014, (b) 2015, (c) 2016, (d) 2017, (e) 2018 and (f) 2019 to date?
9. (a) - (f) In 2014 the Expanded Partnership Program (EPP) was rolled out to 105 CPFs and the program was aimed at enhancing community police relations.
In 2015, the EPP was rolled out to all 150 CPFs and many CPFs became aware of their roles and responsibilities.
In 2016, more and more CPFs participated on the EPP and the relationship between DOCS, the CPFs and SAPS was regarded as an integrated partnership. It was also the year that the EPP Web Based System was piloted.
In 2017, DOCS held numerous Training and Support Interventions to capacitate CPFs on their roles and responsibilities. They were trained on the EPP Web Based System and new members underwent induction training.
In 2018, 135 CPFs participated on the EPP. This was a record compared to previous years. It showed that more and more CPFs are seeing the value of the EPP.
During 2019, 148 CPFs have signed the EPP TPA to date. Of the 148 CPFs that signed the EPP TPA, 107 CPFs are active on the EPP. This is an increase compared to the previous financial years. The EPP is still being utilised and the programme shows year on year successes.
During the 2014/15 financial year the Office of the Western Cape Police Ombudsman (WCPO) was established to specifically deal with service delivery complaints against the South African Police Service (SAPS). This mechanism contributes to improve relations between SAPS and communities and prevent an escalation of frustration within communities. During its first reporting period the Office of the WCPO received 83 complaints. The following year (2015/16) it was 310 and during 2016/17 540 complaints were received. In the 2017/18 reporting period the WCPO registered 513 complaints. (The Annual Reports of the WCPO provide detailed breakdown of nature of complaints and other relevant information.)
In addition, every year, the Department organises a series of Policing Needs and Priorities consultations (PNPs). This is a process through which communities are consulted on their safety needs and priorities, based on their own experiences of crime in their communities. Generally, the South African Police Service (SAPS) will provide an overview of the crime situation in each area covered by the PNP. SAPS always ensures that a senior delegation is present at each engagement. These interactions contribute to promoting good community-police relations.
Below is a summary of the number of PNPs held between 2014 and 2019, the location of the PNPs and the profile of people who usually attend such engagements.
Financial year | Number of PNP engagements | Profile of people who attended | Where were the PNPs organised?
|
2014/15 | 25 | Purposeful sampling was adopted in 2014/15 where key stakeholders in the safety and security environment that are believed to represent the broader population and who have influence over resource allocation/deployment were invited to the PNP workshops. These included, but were not limited to SAPS, CPFs, CSFs, NGOs, CBOs, Government Departments, CIDs, ward councillors, religious leaders and neighbourhood watches etc. | Worcester cluster, Paarl cluster, Stellenbosch cluster, Caledon cluster, Hermanus cluster, Ceres cluster, Vredenburg cluster, Vredendal cluster, Milnerton cluster, Bishop Lavis cluster, Delft cluster, Khayelitsha cluster, Kraaifontein cluster, Bellville cluster, Muizenberg cluster, Kuilsriver cluster, Mitchells Plain cluster, Wynberg cluster, Claremont cluster, Beaufort West cluster, Oudtshoorn cluster, Da Gamaskop cluster, George cluster, Cape Town cluster and Nyanga cluster |
2015/16 | 16 | Purposeful sampling was adopted in 2015/16 where key stakeholders in the safety and security environment that are believed to represent the broader population and who have influence over resource allocation/deployment were invited to the PNP workshops. These included, but were not limited to SAPS, CPFs, CSFs, NGOs, CBOs, Government Departments, CIDs, ward councillors, religious leaders and neighbourhood watches etc. | Winelands cluster, Overberg cluster, Worcester Cluster, Vredenburg Cluster, Beaufort West cluster, Khayelitsha cluster, Mitchells Plain Cluster, Cape Town Cluster, Wynberg Cluster, Blue Downs cluster, Nyanga cluster, Milnerton cluster, Da Gamaskop cluster, Eden cluster, Tygerberg cluster and Vredendal cluster |
2016/17 | 16 | Purposeful sampling was adopted in 2016/17 where key stakeholders in the safety and security environment that are believed to represent the broader population and who have influence over resource allocation/deployment were invited to the PNP workshops. These included, but were not limited to SAPS, CPFs, CSFs, NGOs, CBOs, Government Departments, CIDs, ward councillors, religious leaders and neighbourhood watches etc. | Winelands cluster, Overberg cluster, Worcester Cluster, Vredenburg Cluster, Beaufort West cluster, Khayelitsha cluster, Mitchells Plain Cluster, Cape Town Cluster, Wynberg Cluster, Blue Downs cluster, Nyanga cluster, Milnerton cluster, Da Gamaskop cluster, Eden cluster, Tygerberg cluster and Vredendal cluster |
2017/18 | 6 | Purposeful sampling was also adopted where key stakeholders in the safety and security environment that are believed to represent the broader population and who have influence over resource allocation/deployment were invited to the PNP workshops. These included, but were not limited to SAPS, CPFs, CSFs, NGOs, CBOs, Government Departments, CIDs, ward councillors, religious leaders and neighbourhood watches etc. | Focus on CSIP areas (Khayelitsha, Manenberg, GuNya, Saldanha, Paarl East and Riebeeck West)
Khayelitsha, Manenberg, Nyanga, Saldanha, Paarl East and Riebeeck West |
2018/19 | 3 | Three thematic workshops were held and focused on Gender Based Violence (GBV), Commuter Safety and Policing of Drugs.
Purposeful sampling was also adopted where key stakeholders in the safety and security environment (including NHWs and CPFs) as well as experts in the fields of the thematic areas discussed in the workshops. | Khayelitsha, Cape Town and Woodstock. |
