policing nexus in durban

8/13/2019 Policing Nexus in Durban

1/23

GENERATING SAFETY FROM BELOW

COMMUNITY SAFETY GROUPS AND THEPOLICING NEXUS IN DURBAN

Monique MarksSchool of Social Work and Community Development

University of [email protected]

Debby BonninSchool of Sociology and Social Studies

University of [email protected]

ABSTRACTDrawing on research work conducted in the city of Durban, this article demonstrateslarge extent, policing functions are being carried out by agents other than the police. explores community safety groupings operating in three diverse areas in the greater DuWe demonstrate in this article that these groups have divergent mentalities and technolthat they share comm on goals and outcomes. We argue that com munity cohesion and sohave a positive impact on localised feelings of safety and pride of place. What we also sthere oppears to be a shared understanding on the part of the police and community gthat the police should operate as minimalist actors. We argue that instead of trying to bto all people - the hub of broad security governance - the state police should hone in onfunctions and intervene when comm unities request such intervention. This would a llow be more effective, community oriented and targeted in the work they do.

Keywords: Durban, community safety groupings, local security governance, minimalstreet committees

INTRODUCTIONLow crime societies are societies where people do not mind their own business, wherof deviance has definite limits, where communities prefer to handle their own crimrather than hand them over to professionals. In this, I am not suggesting the repla rule o f law with the rule o f me n . However, 1 am saying that the rule o f law w

South African Review of Sociology VOL 4 NO 2010ISSN 2152 8586/Online 2072 1978 ^ ^


2/23

Generating Safety from Below: Community Safety Groups

to a meaningless set of formal sanctioning proceedings which will be perceived as arbitraryunless there is community involvement in oralizing about and helping with the crime problem.(Braithwaite 1989: 8)

Australian critninologist John Braithwaite argues that the governance of policing simplycannot be left to the public police. On their own, they never have, and never will, beable to create safe communities (Shearing 2007). As Braithwaite suggests, the policeare important actors, but their work will come to nothing if community members donot identify with and play a role in finding solutions to safety problems. Communitycohesion is important in enhancing local safety, although the police m ust be seen as keyactors. Th is argument is in line with the recent work of Thatcher, who argued that policing(particularly community policing) c n take place without the police. Indeed, it oftendoes. However, Thatcher makes the point that the police have a 'unique responsibilityfor the legitimate exercise of coercive force, and that capacity provides an indispensablefoundation for the success of whatever level of supplementary informal social controlsociety ought to encourage' (2009: 69).

The onus on public police organisations (with the guidance and assistance of localgovemment agencies) is to resource, skill-up and train their officers to be knowledgebrokers (Ericson 1994), facilitators and experts in the discretionary enforcement oflaw and the production of social order. The police, trained in due process and legalframeworks, need to play a central role in ensuring that the use of force and thecurtailment of freedom (arrest, detention, etc) are always conducted in a manner thatprotects democratic rights and follows legal procedures. As Zedner correctly asserts,the police are a public body and must be the key agency responsible for delineatingand upholding 'the normative structures essential both to protect the public interest inpolicing and maintain the ligatures of civil society' (200 6: 93). Or, put another way, thestate should play a role as guarantor of the public interest within a plural policing system(Loader Walker 2007).

The empirical research that underpins this article was conducted in Durban in2008/2009, looking at the ways in which three community groups (described below)come together to generate local safety. What this article demonstrates is that much of

everyday policing is, indeed, not carried out by the police. Instead, community safetygroups in diverse neighbourhoods are the most active agents (or nodes) responsible forcreating safer spaces. These groups take on very different forms and are engaged invarying activities to solve the sticky problem of insecurity.

The article has three objectives: the first section m aps out what com munity safetygroups are doing in the Durban area. The second provides insight into police interactionswith local community groups. Lastly, we try to provide some answers (based oncontemporary realities and theorisations) about what the role of the police should be in aworld where comm unity mem bers do not 'mind their own bus iness', but are recognised

co-producers of safety generation.


3/23

Monique Marks and Debby Bonnin

The article is premised on the assumption that the public police w ill never be ableto realise their dream of monopolising the policing landscape (M arks, Shearing Wood2009). The article argues, no doubt controversially, that in a world of p olycentric, nodal

security governance, the role of the public police should be 'minimalist' (Menkhaus2007) or 'minimal' (Kinsey et al. 1986). The police must exist as an 'or else' (lastresort) agency (Thatcher 2009), given that they have symbolic and legal capital in thegovernance of security (Marks Wood 200 7).

This norm ative argument reflects current realities. It also resonates with the think ingof both the police and community safety group members in Durban. The argumenpresented is not a new one in the African context: the long history and prevalence ofplural or nodal policing is well documented in Bruce Baker's (2009) book entitledSecurity in a Post-Conflict Africa: The Role of Nonstate P olicing. Based on six years

of fieldwork in various African countries. Baker argues that in much of Africa the statepolice are not able (or sometimes w illing) to provide adequate protection to citizens. Asa result, non-state policing has proliferated and what we have in this part of the worldis 'muhi-choice' policing, where citizens choose among community groups, the publicpolice, traditional authorities and commercial security companies to provide securityservices. This reality demands new thinking about policing arrangements and systemsof accountability. As Baker (2009) put it, what we ideally want is optimal securitygovernance, regardless of who delivers that service.

TH INKIN G DIFFERENTLY ABOUT THE POLICE AN D POLICINGIn his recent book. Thin Blue. Jonny Steinberg (2008) made the point that communitiesin South Africa shy away from being policed by the public police. This, he believesis because the police continue to lack legitimacy and demonstrate a poor record incombating crime and maintaining order. Through a detailed ethnography he documentsthe daily interactions of police with local comm unity m embers.

For Steinberg, the interface between police and communities has become a 'scr ipt 'The script, he says, is written by the audience (communities) rather than the script-writers (the police). When the police fail to say the right lines, they are thrown off the

stage and the audience (community members) become the actors. Steinberg describehow communities across South Africa (both rich and poor) have come together toprotect themselves. Their defence is neighbourly cohesion, sometimes expressed asethnic solidarity and sometimes based on political or traditional ties. In Steinberg'sview, community initiatives have led to real reductions in crime and disorder. The policeare there, but they reside in the wings of th neighbourhood stage.

Steinberg's book brings to fore the complexities of policing in South Africaand demonstrates that security governance is carried out by a range of actors whoserelationships to one another are ever changing and contested. Thin Blue draws (perhaps

implicitly) on the work of criminologists such as Clifford Shearing, who argued thaSouth African criminology has been somewhat 'blinded by the state-centred view of


4/23


5/23

Mo nique Marks and Debby onnin

B CKGROU ND TO THIS RTICLE

In Novem ber 2008, the authors of this article were com missioned to do a small researchproject by Imagine Durban, a council-led project based in the eThekwini municipality,which focuses on long-term planning for th City of Durban. Imagine Durban is primarilyconcemed with mobilising communities, business people, govemment, NGOs, etc. tothink creatively about what Durban can and should look like in the future.

One o Imagine Durban s key foci is to find innovative ways of creating a safer city.Since safety was such an important aspect of imagining a better city. Imagine Durbandecided to support a research-based project that looked at how communities werecoming together to make their local spaces safer. In investigating how communitiescome together to enhance security, we focused on three different neighbourhoods wherecommunity safety groups were already operating. We wanted to find out how thesecommunity safety groups came together; what their objectives are; how they work towardachieving those objectives; and their relationship to other safety actors or security nodes- particularly the police. Three geographic areas were selected where such com munitysafety groups currently exist: New lands East, Palm Ridge and Warwick Triangle.

Newlands East, a lower middle-/working-class residential area historicallydemarcated for colo ured people, is now home to a more wide-ranging racial spectmmof people. Newlands East was selected because the irst (ANC-aligned) street committeesin Kw aZulu-Natal were publicly launched there. The launch was presided over by JacobZuma, and reports in the press indicated that the station commissioner in the area had

given strong support to the initiative.The second area selected was PalmRidge, a middle-class area that falls within

the broader suburbs of Berea and Overport. Residents have established a strong andwell-organised neighbourhood association known as the PalmRidge NeighbourhoodAssociation.

The third area selected was Warwick Triangle, which is a bustling transport nodeand trading district, largely comprising informal traders. It is also home to a sizablenumber of working-class residents. For more than a decade, traders in Warwick T rianglehave come together to try to make the area a safer place in which to trade and live. The

initial safety grouping was called Traders Against Crime (TAC). An offspring of TACnow refers to itself as the Warwick Triangle Com munity Policing Fom m, although it halittle real association with legislated community policing fomms. Traders in WarwickTriangle formed these groups as a way of making the area safer, enhancing trading andproviding security to customers in this busy m etropolitan space.

These three areas are not the only ones in which cotnmunity members are takingthe lead in creating safer environments. Indeed, throughout Durban, and South Africamore generally, numerous local communities have come together to create associationwith the key objective of making their neighbourhoods safer. There are daily reports in

the press about neighbourhood watches, street patrols, neighbourhood associations and


6/23


Other groups actively involved in delivering services that are traditionally viewed as thework ofthe police.

Taking guidance from the work of Shearing, Dupont, and others cited above, the

authors of this article ma pped ou t the different w ays in which com mu nities cometogether and work with a range of other security no de s to generate safety outcomes. Thethree different areas were identified to find out more about local, bottom-up responsesto crime and feelings of insecurity. The aim was to discover how community-directedinitiatives align w ith other safety nodes - particularly the public police.

During the period N ovem ber 2008 and M ay 200 9, the authors talked to leaders andmembers of the community groups mentioned, attended their meetings and met withprivate security personnel and police officers who operated in the police jurisdictionswithin which these groups fell. What emerged from these interviews and observations

is that govemment institutions, like the police, have a limited capacity to provide safe,secure and healthy communities without effectively networking with community andother groups, such as private security agencies and NGOs.

Fictitious nam es are used in this article, to protect the individua ls interviewed.

THE WORKINGS OF COMMUNITY SAFETY GROUPSCommunity safety groups come in diverse shapes: some groups or associations organisewhole wards, others organise sections of suburbs (blocks) and yet others are moreinclined to get together people who live or work along one street. What the leadersof these groups suggested is that it is generally most effective to begin by organisingsmaller groups (in streets) and then allowing the process to spread. Once one street isorganised, and residents in the model street are seen as being sociable, caring and alert,adjoining areas will be keen to follow suit.

The names given to these groups are equally diverse: street committees, neighbour-hood associations, street patrols, community policing forums and neighbourhoodwatches. The name given generally reflects what the group hopes to do and to achieve.While their foci differed from area to area, the overall objectives of the three groupswere much the same. In broad terms the objectives of these groups were to

1. develop activities/projects/programm es geared toward mak ing the local areasafer;

2. build a sense of com munity cohesion at the local level;3. develop a sense of pride in the neighbourhood ;

4. ensure that local com mu nities have an organised grouping that can representtheir needs, concem s and strategies to the relevant gove mm ent bo dies;

5. mobilise a network of peop le who are willing and able to assist com mu nitymembers who find themselves in difficult or troublesome situations.


7/23


The skills and knowledge that mem bers of these community safety groups gained fromworking towards these objectives have enabled them to be more active decision-makingpartners when dealing with govemment agencies, business groups and the private

security sector. Through participating in community safety groups, community mem bershave harnessed the capacity (collectively) to manage safety issues that affect their dailylives. These groups also provide an opportunity for community members who want tobe active citizens to reach out to others in their neighbourhood and to reach withinin sorting out safety problems. These groups are significant, if only because the policeand other govemment agencies find it far more difficult to ignore or overlook problemsand ideas for solving these problems from a collective, than is the case when they arecontacted by individual community citizens.

Traders Against Crime Warwick Triangle CommunityPolice ForumThese groups formed as a result of real or perceived threats at the local level. Membersof these groups (and their supporters) realised that they were not able to rely on the stateto effectively or efficiently govem security.

The TAC in Warwick Triangle was formed roughly ten years ago. Traders cametogether because people in the area were consistently victims of theft and armed robberyThe threat of crime p roved a real obstacle to trade in the area. Potential customers wereafraid to enter the area, especially after dark. This was made worse by the fact that thelocal authority did not respond to calls to fix broken traffic lights or to install properlighting in the area. Traders were forced to close their businesses early and residentsretreated to their fiats as darkness set in.

In the view of key organisers of the TAC, the police were unwilling - even unable to deal with criminal incidents in the area. As a result, traders came together and decidedto start their own marshalling system as a way of creating a visible w atc h in the areaThe fact that members of the TAC know the area well and are able to respond quicklyto calls of distress, has meant that they are now the first line of contact for victims ocrime in Warwick T riangle.

Members of the TAC have leamed over the years that they have no choice but toarm the m selves , sometimes w ith licenced firearms, as they are often the first to respondto violent crime in the area. They claim that when a violent crime occurs, they contacthe police immediately. When the police do not respond - which in their opinion is themajority of the time -T A C mem bers make a citizen s arrest and take the offender to thnearest police station. TAC m embers claim that when they hand over an arrested personthey provide as much evidence as possible to secure a custodial arrest and conviction.

Members of the TAC acknowledge that they do not always operate within a humanrights framework, nor do they adhere to due process at all times. When they apprehend

an offender they often mete out physical punishment, the severity of which is dependenon members perceptions of th severity of the offence.


8/23


Traders Against Crime operate on a purely voluntary basis. They have no materialresources - not even T-shirts or vests to publicly identify them selves. They are, in short,armed with their own energy, cell phones and weapons. They have no office space

and so meetings, when they do occur, take place on the street or in the offices of non-governmental organisations who have offered support. The TAC would like to be ableto formally register as an organisation and be able to raise funds - a dream that for nowlooks unlikely to be realised.

TAC members, traders in the area, and even govemment representatives agree thatthe TAC has played a significant role in fighting crime and identifying environmentalproblems. They have also made it their mission to foster a sense of pride in place in theWarwick area. In the words of ward councillor Avril Coen: 'Th e Warwick Triangle TAChas been invaluable in making this area safer. They have tirelessly fought against crime

and have tried (often unsuccessfully) to bring the police on board to do som ething aboutcrime in the area ' (Coen, Interview, 13 February 2009). Councilor Coen is not alone inholding this view: the TAC won a mayoral award for its contribution to reducing crimein the Warwick Triangle area (Robbins Skinner 2009).

Volunteers' involvement in TAC activities comes at a price. Active TAC mem berspay large sums of money for cell phone calls, and family relations are negativelyimpacted as they are always 'on ca ll'. Some TAC m embers have paid w ith their lives.In 2008, one of the most committed members of the TAC, Rasta, was shot and killedwhen he apprehended a person who had been engaged in violent criminal activities.Other members have been stabbed, shot at, and even arrested and charged by theSAPS for their 'illeg al' activities (Gwede M abusa, Focus group, 20 No vem ber2008).

In recent months, some members of the TAC have begun to call themselves theWarwick Triangle Community Police Forum. While they have historically workedindependently from the formal government-legislated community police forums, theyare now trying to formalise their working relationships with the police. In so doing,they are aiming to gain legitimacy in the eyes of the police and local authorities. Keymembers of the TACAVarwick CPF have recently been elected onto the executivecommittee of th (formal) Durban Central community police forum.

Newlonds East Street CommitteesThe first street committee in the eThekwini municipal area was launched in August2008. The launch followed the Polokwane Conference Resolution that street com mitteesbe formed by all ANC branches in order to fight crime. Jacob Zuma, who was presentat the launch, spoke about how street comm ittees in the area had already reduced crimeby 80 per cent in the two months prior to the formal launch (Mthembu 2008). Therecent call for street com mittees draws on institutional m emories of ANC -aligned South

Africans, who formed such structures at the height of apartheid as a means of creatingalternative forms of local governance, including the governance of security, at the local


9/23

Mo nique Marks and Debby onnin

level. W hile not as active as they once w ere, street comm ittees a re still operational in number of townships across South Africa.

Exactly how street committees operate, and are meant to operate, is not entirely

clear. No gu idelines have been provided by gov emm ent or by the AN C itself Much defined by local dynamics and local political histories. Broadly, though, in the view othe ANC -led govem men t, street comm ittees are meant to operate as watchdog bodies ialerting the police to crime hot-spots (ibid.). They are also seen as a route to develop incaring and cohesive communities. While there are no guidelines for the establishmenand running of street committees, NC leaders have called for street comm ittee mem bersto work collaboratively with the police and not to engage in vigilante activities (ibid.)

It is not surprising that Newlands E ast was selected for the official launch, no r thastreet committees are already active in this area. According to Themba Kwela, membe

of the Alhen Rice Garpa street committee, in the six months leading up to the launch, pastor was shot and killed in his street and there were many rapes and armed robberietaking place in the area. Incidents were reported to the police, but no action was takenGiven the lack of responsiveness of the police, community members joined forceand started patro lling their streets from 18hOO to 22h00. These patro l group s identifunfamiliar people and activities, and inv estig ate whe ther or not these present a thre(Kwela, Interview, 26 January 2009).

Street com mittees are mean t to act within the law and avoid using force. The realityhowever, is that violence is used. One of the leaders of the street committee movement

in Newlands East, Ike Xaba, openly stated in an interview that if somebody suspecteof criminal activities is apprehended by the street com mittee, they will be given a go ohiding (Xaba, Interview, 18 November 2008). Thereafter they are handed over to thpolice. If the police fail to arrive to make an arrest within a given time period, streecom mittee mem bers will eliminate the mu rderer to prevent the loss of other liv es . Thpolice are, according to street com mittee leaders, well aware of this contra ct (Focugroup, 15 Nove mber 200 8).

As is the case with the TAC, the street committees in Newlands East make considerable effort to find incriminating evidence that can be used by the authoritieThe street committee has established a set of operating guidelines which have beediscussed with the SAP S. The station com missioner in the New lands area and m embeof the street com mittees agree that there is a good w orking relationship between the tw nod al groups.

Similar to the Warwick area, a number of street committee members own gunsThis is viewed by street committee members as necessary, especially when they arpatrolling the informal settlements that border Newlands East, where mu rders take placat an alarming rate. According to the station commissioner, in one of the neighbourininformal settlements on average four people are killed every w eekend (Pillay, Interview13Febmary2009) .

The street comm ittees in the Newlands East area are not simply reactive, nor do theconfine themselves to physical safety issues: they are coneemed with broader issues


10/23


human security and community cohesion. For example, they identified illegal shebeensin the area. While they were aware that they could get the authorities to close down theshebeens, their preferred route was to find a solution together with the shebeen owners.

The ag reement reached w as that the shebeens will stop operating after lhOO. If shebeenowners fail to keep to their side ofthe agreement, the street committee reports them tothe police. This mechanism has worked far more effectively than attempts to prohibitshebeens from operating, which in most cases leads to an increase in und ergrou ndshebeen trade (Kwela, Interview, 26 January 2009).

From interviews conducted with a range of key actors in the area (including thepolice), local comm unity groups have the knowledge and the capacity to find solutionsthat are workable and meet the needs of all community groups. As one of the streetcommittee leaders insightfully stated in an interview:

Most crimes that are reported don t require police intervention. Com mun ity m emb ers know besthow to deal with safety issues. They know where the problem lies and what the best solution is... It is really a question of being a responsible citizen and creating an environment that we wantour kids to be raised in. We are all in the policing trade together. (Xaba, Interview, 18 No vem ber2008)

Street committee members are also responsible for identifying problems that might leadto feelings of insecurity, or create opportunities for crime. For example, members ofstreet committees look for potholes in the road that could lead to accidents. They also

identify street lights that are not working and report these to the relevant loeal au thority.Street committees also engage in a range of activities aimed at reaching out tovulnerable sectors ofthe community. One example of this is the identifying of familieswho cannot afford to pay school fees. Street comm ittee members take it upon them selvesto negotiate with school goveming bo ards for fee reductions for such families. They alsocheck on elderly and isolated community members. A member ofthe street committeerecalled how they discovered an elderly woman alone in her flat, with her son who haddied a few days earlier. S ince this elderly resident could not pay for her son s funeral, thestreet committee members organised funds for a respectable funeral (Xaba, Interview,18 November 2009).

A commonly held view, expressed by street committee members and Newlandsresidents, is that making com mun ities safer is about making neighbourhoods ni ceplaces in which to live. Once there is pride in place, neighbourliness is easier to buildand having community solidarity creates feelings of security. In their view (and in linewith Braithw aite s thinking ), for comm unities to be safe, people should no t mind theirown business or tolerate dev iance .


11/23


The PalmRidge Ne igh bo urh oo d ssociationThe PalmRidge Neighbourhood Association (PR NA ), which was formed in 2006, sharemany ofthe objectives ofthe other two community safety groups. There are, howeverthree key differences between the PRNA and the groups formed in Newlands East andWarwick Triangle. In the first instance, the PRNA was formed at the suggestion of theresponsible station commissioner (Supt. Smit). Secondly, the PRNA does not do streetpatrols, although some members ofthe association have suggested this. Members oftheassociation do not carry arm s (or if they do it is not openly acknowledged). Thirdly, thePRNA works fairly closely w ith a private security com pany (A DT ), which has majoritybuy-in in the area. PRNA mem bers can afford to buy in some aspects of security, andso the policing nexus in this area includes the state, community groups and the privatesector.

One ofthe PRN A s early projects w as to organise procurement process to see whichprivate security provider offered the best services and packages to the neighbourhoodO fth e five companies interviewed, one (ADT) was selected as comp any of cho ice Discounts were negotiated for those who signed armed response contracts with ADTAD T managers and officers attend the PRNA m onthly meetings. At these meetings AD Tprovides feedback about its activities and observations over the past month, and thecompany is open to suggestions about how to better service the area. ADT recognisesthe PRNA as an organised grouping and, according to PRNA members interviewed, isfar more responsive and reliable than the SAPS. ADT and the PRNA believe they areworking towards the same objectives.

According to founding mem bers, the PRNA was relatively easy to establish becausethe neighbourhood already had a sense of cohesiveness. People living in the area hadbeen there for many years - sometimes decades - and there was already familiaritybetween neighbours. What motivated the community to form the association and torespond to the proposal from the station commissioner w as the fact that a gang operatingin the area had been involved in a series of house robberies. When residents approachedthe local SAPS about what to do, the station comm issioner recomm ended that they forma neighbourhood association.

A small group of concemed neighbours put letters in post boxes, calling for ameeting to discuss safety issues. A network was activated and then strengthened when alocal resident w as stabbed with a screwdriver w hile walking past a derelict, abandonedhouse. A subsequent meeting was held, which was widely attended by local residentsWord spread, and now almost all the houses in the area form part of the PRNA, whichhas two main objectives: to assess and address the drivers of crime and to build sociacohesion. Vigilante responses to crime have been strongly rejected by the majority ofmembers ofthe PRNA.

The PRNA began informally, but quickly developed a strategy document and

thereafter arranged for members to take responsibility for different parts ofthe strategyFor example, certain individuals are responsible for reporting street light outages or


12/23


illegal rubbish dumping, while others are responsible for attending the monthly CPFmeeting. One person ensures that important information (often, but not always, relatedto safety issues) about the area is sent (usually by email or SMS) to all members of the

network.The PRNA has mobilised people in the area to develop a sense of pride in their

neighbourhood. There has been, for example, a competition for the best verge in theneighbourhood. People are strongly encouraged to take their rubbish out at the righttime for collection, and older residents who have difficulties with this task are assistedby younger residents. Street parties are held annually to create a social vibe in the area,so that children and adults feel their neighbourhood is a space for people to gather,socialise and play.

When asked about the main achievements of the PRNA to date, founding mem bers

stated that they could not conclusively claim that crime had been reduced since thePRNA had been formed. However, they were certain of other positive, broader safetyoutcomes. The existence and projects of the PRNA have brought people out of theirindividual walled-in spaces and this, in tum, has led to a greater sense of cotnmunityand a reduction n fe r of crime. Through local problem-solving and advocacy workthey solved a number of com monly identified problem s. For example, they effectivelyadvocated for the closure of a working brothel, ensured that owners of derelict housesare identified and asked the police to intervene in cases of squatting, and worked withthe relevant municipal departmen t to get rid of overgrown bushes in a nearby cemetery(Bunting Dalton, Interview, 26 March 2009).

All of this has led to an enhanced sense of neighbourly pride, as demonstrated bygreater environmental awareness. People in the neighbourhood, through the networksestablished by the PRN A, now have an efficient way of communicating information toone another, and of supporting those experiencing difficulties such as deaths of lovedones or victimisation due to crime. New neighbours are welcomed into the area andencouraged to participate in the association. Even estate agents working in the areaclaim that property values have increased as a result of the active community groupoperative there.

Despite these positive outcom es, there is a strong feeling am ongst PRN A m embersthat the services which the police provide to them are poor. They do not feel that thepolice operate as partners or collaborators. When p roblems are identified and solutionsto safety issues suggested, the police are often unresponsive. These feelings toward thepolice were echoed by those interviewed from the two other community safety groups.

Groups like the PRNA, TAC and street committees play a crucial role in theirrespective areas, in creating feelings of safety and a sense of pride in place. They alsoprovide a link for groups of individuals with necessary (often aloof) service providers.The reality of these community safety groups as a crucial part of the policing matrixhas been formally recognised by the eThekwini municipality, which is well aware of

their presence in almost every suburb, township and informal settlement in the greater


13/23


14/23


and disorder, yet they are also expected to be all things to all people, usually signalled byphilosophies of community policing (Altbecker 2007). Thirdly, the police are unclearabout what exactly their role is in safety networks, as well as what the role of other

groups in the network is or should be (Wood 2006a). At the same time, comm unities areoften unclear about what to expect from the police and what the police can feasibly offerin terms of service delivery.

These tensions, felt by police throughout the world, were reflected in the interviewswith station commissioners from the three jurisdictions researched. Each of the stationcomm issioners spoke positively about community initiatives. The station commissionerof Mayville police station (responsible for the PalmRidge area). Superintendent Smit,described the PRNA as a constructive initiative . In his view such groups do assistwith crime prevention and are important because they mobilise coneemed citizens. He

categorically stated that the work of the police is made easier when there are formalrepresentative groups to work w ith and to account to (Smit, Interview, 10 March 2009).Smit supports the call for street committees. He believes local communities have

the best knowledge of their areas and are able to come up with workable solutionsto safety problems, which they can communicate to the police and other govemmentagencies. However, he opposes the idea of communities actively doing patrols, as hebelieves this compromises their security because they lack the skills and resources todeal with dangerous situations. As he put it, criminals are armed and civilians are notequipped to deal with such situations. In Sm it s view, comm unity groups can and shoulddeal with minor issues of social disorder and conflict, and can help identify (and rectify)the environmental causes of crime. He insists, however, that if communify groups are tobe effective and if th police are to be able to focus on m ore serious and violent crime ,the local authority needs to be directly involved in solving social and environmentalproblem s. For Smit, the current lack of responsiveness and service delivery from localauthorities makes the job of the police much more difficult and creates frustrationamongst communify safety groups who direct their anger at the police (Smit, Interview,10 March 2009).

Smit has tried to deal with the deficits of cooperation and role differentiation intwo w ays: he has invited groups like the PRNA to actively participate in the communifypolice fomm, and he also mns a strong reservist programme as a way of formalisingcitizen know ledge of and involvement in actual police work.

Similarly, Director Sitesh Pillay emphatically supports communify groups likethe TAC. He is, however, aware that the police are not as responsive as they could bein dealing with the problem s communify safefy groups bring to the police s atten tion.While he sees communify mobilisation and problem solving as vital to the poli ingenterprise, he is also cautious about romanticising bottom-up, non-state interventions.Pillay pointed out that while traders complain about the lack of police responsiveness,they often resist police intervention when the po lice s regulatory attempts are out of

synch with trade rs desired orde r . This has led to what he refers to as m n- in s betweentraders and the police.


15/23


Director Pillay has been instmmental in establishing formal com mu nity a ssociationwithin his jurisdiction. He assisted the Chinese com munity in forming an associatioto speak on their joint behalf and to relay information to the police. The Chinese

Association has an office with a liaison person who literally translates the problemChinese-speaking people experience to the police. In tum, the police have an agreemenwith the Chinese Association to respond as quickly as possible to requests and to sharideas about crime prevention and safety enhancement. Pillay has similar pilot projectmnning with Pakistani and Somali communities. Drawing on police crime statisticsPillay believes improved communication in these minority communities has led to decrease in crime, and has served to counteract feelings of insecurity. Pillay made thincisive point, however, that the success of such partnerships or networks is dependenon the homogeneity of the community groups and the resources they have available t

mn their own offices and communicate with the police.According to Pillay, comm unities should know that the police canno t be present an

visible all the time. Rather, the police should be there to act in instances of serious crimor disorder, and they should conduct proper investigations. In his view, communitmemb ers and associations should play a key role in resolving local prob lems. They mualso be aware ofthe limitations and constraints facing the public police. In Pillay s viewone cmcial reason for police ineffectiveness is that peop le refer eve ry little problem tthe police to be resolve d . In doing so, they block the police emergency line and direpolice resources aw ay from their core functions. For Pillay, the police, already stretche

in terms of resources, need to be freed to respond to serious criminal cases such arobberies and rape (Pillay, Interview, 13 Febmary 2009).Director Pillay is clear that the public police cannot and should not be responsibl

for clearing bushes or getting neighbours to tum down the volume of the music theplay. These are issues that communities can deal with themselves, or they should caon the relevant govemment department. Like Smit, Pillay made the point that othestate agencies are not responsive and that the capacities of th police are watered downbecause the police, as the only 24/7 govemment agency, remain the first port of calin any (perceived) emergency situation. The police, in his view, must be able to g back to basic s , which m eans dealing decisively with contact crimes, doing propeinvestigations to build solid cases for prosecu tion, and effecting arrests, as required.

Much of what these station commissioners said coincided with the views of thNewlands East Station Commissioner, Superintendent Thandi Malimela. For SupMalimela, the best way to make communities safer is to mobilise local energies anformalise working relationships between cotnmunity groups and the police (Focugroup, 15 November 2008). Like Director Pillay, Malimela believes most reportecrimes or incidents of social disorder do not require police intervention. Communitmembers, she stated, know where problems lie, while the police are often oblivious tthese underlying problems. In addition, she pointed out, crimes generally occur whethe police are not present. Communities then have little option but to try to deal witsituations as they occur, and to attempt to minimise the possibility of crime occurring


16/23


Supt. Malimela supports the idea of street committees. Since their formation inthe 2008, the police have attended street committee meetings and encouraged streetcommittee members to participate in the Newlands Community Police Forum (CPF).

The current chairperson of the Newlands CPF is a founding member of one of thestreet committees. Now that there is a formalised and collaborative relationship betweenthe street committees and the police, they have embarked on joint projects, such asconducting a comm unity survey to establish com mu nity problem s and how they couldbe resolved. Street committees are expected to report to the CPF about their aetivitiesand project ideas.

Supt. Malim ela s dream is that a street committee be formed in every street. In alower soeio-economic area like Newlands East, where it is not possible for householdsto buy ou t security, groups like street committees are vital for everyday policing.

Contrary to Supt. Smit, Supt. Malimela supports community patrols: she aims to bo lstertheir effectiveness by ensuring that at least one member of every ward committee is atrained police reservist. As Malimela sees it, through the reservist programme streetcommittee members will leam about due process and develop skills like statementtaking. Malimela is aware that police resources need to be used in a more targeted way,and to do this both the comm unity and the police need to accept that the police are notalways the best agency to deal with all safety-related problems.

THE POLICE IN THE POLICING MATRIX: A MINIMALIST VIEW

What have we leamed from the Durban study that is the focus of this article? Whatnormative conclusions can we draw?

Community safety groups are an important feature of the policing matrix, fora number of reasons: community safety groups carry out important safety problem-solving activities, and they are a collective voice that speaks to govem ment agenciesabout environmental matters that could become criminogenic. They mobilise theenergy of active citizens and are able to intervene effectively in local safety p roblems.Community safety groups, like the ones discussed in this article, will continue to formand operate because police resources and capacities will always be finite - especially

in countries with we ak states such as South Africa. W hile it cannot be denied thatsome of their ways of resolving problems and dealing with offenders or deviantsare highly problematic, they do positively impact on community cohesion and enhancefeelings of safety. In many practical ways, community safety groups are effectively force multipHers to the public police.

Those w ho are active in these groups recognise that the police have limited capacityand skills. They do not want a police service which tries to be everything to everyone,nor do they want a police force which is overly interventionist. What they want is apolice organisation which does what it is mandated and trained to do, but does this in

a consultative, effective and efficient manner. As one of the leaders of the NewlandsEast street comm ittee stated: We don t the police to be Aquafresh A ll in O ne (Kwela,


17/23


Interview, 26 January 2009 ). They w ant the police to take act on issues that commu nitieidentify as safety threats, rather than have a police organisation whose planning ibased on (often contestable) crime statistics, (centrally imposed) national priorities an

(unimaginative) bureaucratic inertia.Contrary to what Jonny Steinberg suggests in Thin Blue. in terms of goveming

security, there might be greater commonality between what the police want and whacommunity groups want, than meets the eye. Police and community safety grourepresentatives seem to agree that the police should be 'minimalist' actors. What thimeans is that instead of widening the reach of the police (through generally poorlydetermined 'community policing' programmes), what is required is for the police tconfine themselves to what they are trained and resourced to do, and for the police tintervene when communities request them to do so (Kinsey et al. 1986). Using Reinerdepiction of minimalist policing, 'police intervention should be confined to cases wherthere is clear evidence of law-breaking, and should take the form of the invocation olegal powers and criminal process' (Reiner 1992: 145).

more 'm inimalist vie w ' of the role and function of the state police would allow thpolice to do what they know best and to prove their effectiveness as a key govemmenagency - especially in emergent or transitional states, where police resources andlegitimacy are low. This approach, which clearly delineates the specific core functionand responsibilities of the police, would provide a basis for certainty abou t which securitnode does what, how, and at what cost. The result would be a state-building exercisthat harmonises state authority with local systems. Such an approach, Menkhaus argueis the 'best hope for achieving something remotely approaching effective govemancin communities desperate for a more predictable and secure environment' (2007: 108)

This minimal role of the police must be determined by what is unique about thpublic police. What is their unique role and function? W hile the pub lic police no longehold the monopoly on the legitima te use of force, they remain unique in their specialisetraining to use ubiquitous coercion in a graduated and discretionary way. The policremain a fundamental representative of the legal system (Reiss Bordua 1967: 27)and through their presence demonstrate that a 'regime of law exists' (Bayley 199434). Because of this, and because of their capacity to curtail individual freedoms in themost dramatic ways, the police should carry out the following fiinctions: they shoulintervene authoritatively to restore order when social harmony has collapsed or is undethreat (Thatcher 2009), they should resolve serious confiict and intervene decisively icombating crimes that comm unities experience as threatening (Kinsey et al. 1986), and,perhaps, most importantly, they need to conduct thorough investigations (Altbecke2007).

Proposing this view of the police is not new. Indeed, Kinsey et al. (1986) p resentethis framework in a landmark book about the problems of policing crime more thathree decades ago. However, notions of minimal/minimalist policing have often beedenounced as 'left realist romanticism' (see Thatcher 2009). It is important, thereforeto consider what the benefits of minimal police frameworks could be. First, institution


18/23

Generoting Safety from Below: Community Safety Groups

and mechanisms of accountability would be far simpler to design if the functions ofthe police were more clearly delineated. Second, the surest way to build legitimacy onthe part of the police is for them to demonstrate that they are both democratic (through

acting on comm unity dem ands rather than their own intelligence ) and effective asa public service agency with unique mandates, skills and resources. Third, once thepolice are clear about their own role, and feel less pressured to respond to an ever-widening demand for their interventions, a space will be created for them to activelyencourage and even to leam from altemative (non-state) ways of social ordering. Thisis important because, as this article has demonstrated, local, non-state forms of orderingusually enjoy a high degree of legitimacy and local ownership, and their solutions toeveryday security problems are often more effective than inorganic, top-dow n stateinterventions (Menkhaus 2007). Fourth, the minimalist police perspective fits wellwith what the police want (Kinsey et al. 1986): the police want to be real p olicewho can intervene effectively to combat crime, restore public order and hold (at leastsymbolically) the big gun (Bjork 2006). But when they do intervene, they want tobe respected by the communities they police, not played by community members likepuppets on a string, as Steinberg suggests is currently the case. For this to occur, themajority of interventions by the police must be the result of community initiation. Thismodel, then, has the potential to boost police m orale, as police begin to see themselvesas engaged in real police work while at the same time doing what the comm unity wan tsthem to do (Kinsey et al. 1986: 201).

A minimalist policing approach is important to consider in countries like SouthAfrica, where police legitimacy is in question and where there are very limited stateresources. The public police do not want to be stretched beyond their capacities in termsof their resources, training, mandate or skills base. In developing countries like SouthAfrica, the police simply cannot be the hub of all comm unity/societal problem-solvingthat is linked to broad notions of security.

CONCLUSIONThe detail of what these groups do, their origins, and how they relate to the police and

other nodal security actors differs in significant ways, but what holds them together istheir vision of safe, proud and cohesive neighbourhoods. Equally, what binds them is adream of responsive public police and govemment agencies, and a certainty that theirown initiatives w ill be supported and recognised. They have a clear sense of what theyare doing, but they want to determ ine what it is that the police should and could be doing.And, like the police, they want the core function of the police to be clearly outlined,so that the police can be minimal actors. Minimal police actors would be responsiveto public requests for assistance (regardless of the police s perceived seriousness ofthe crime), respectful and supportive of non-police solutions to problems of crime

and disorder, committed to efficient and effective crime investigation, and have a highregard for civil liberties and individual rights (ibid: 189). In this vision, the police have


19/23


a limited ambit. The function they perform must be premised on their specialised skilland mandate and, as far as possib le, their interventions should result from comm unifyidentified safefy threats.

What this article demonstrates is that, as Braithwaite suggests, comm unities shoulnot mind their own business. In our contemporary world, sustainable assoeiationalife, however, necessitates the state (as the anchor of public good provision andauthorisation) to respond when called upon. The model proposed in this article is far cry from most popular normative views of polieing in South Africa. And there arcertainly challenges which bo th the police and communify groups need to mee t, in ordfor such a model to work. The police need to be trained and organised to efffectivelinvestigate crime, resolve major conflict, and be responsive to community demandfor their skilled intervention. The police also need to find meehanisms to activel

support and collaborate with community groups whose aim has never been to replacstate bodies. At the same time, communify safefy groups need to be prepared to worcollaboratively with the police, within safefy networks. They also need to adhere to set of guiding principles (such as those suggested in this article) which preclude themfrom engag ing in partisan and /or vigilante actions in their quest for com munity safefyAdmitedly, these are difficult challenges to meet. However, the realify of our currenpolicing landscape indicates that this model fits with what comm unity safety groups anthe police desire. It also provides us with a route for effectively mobilising the resou rcewe already have available to us, but which remain poorly coordinated and virtuallunrecognised at present.

OT

1 PalmR idge is not the nam e of a suburb or area; it is abbreviated from the name of the organisatiformed in this section of the suburban Berea. Organised residents have called themselves thPalm Ridge N eighbourh ood Association. The nam e is drawn from two of the roads that form paof the boundary of the association.

REFERENCESAd am s, R. Serpe, R. 2000 . 'Socia l Integration, Fear of Crim e, and Life Stratification.' Sociological

Perspectives, 43(4) : 605-6 29.

Altbeeker, A. IQQl.A Country at ar with Itself South Africa s Crime Crisis. Johannesburg: JonathanBall.

Baker, B. 2009. Security in Post-Conict Africa: The Role of Nonstate Policing. Balt imore: CRC

Press.

Bayley, D.H. 1994. Police for the Future. New York: Oxford University Press.Bjork, M. 2006. 'Policing Agonist ic Pluralism: Classical and Contemporary Thoughts on th

Viability of the Polity. ' Distinktion, 12: 7 5 - 9 1 .

Braithwaite, J. 1989. Crime, Shame and Reintegration. Cam bridge: Cam bridge University Press.


20/23


. 2006. 'Peacemaking Networks and Restorative Justice.' In J. Fleming & J. Wood (eds.).Fighting Crime Together: The Challenge of Policing and Security Networks. Sydney:University of New South Wales Press.

Crawford, A. 2006a. 'Networked Govemance and the Post-regulatory State?: Steering, Rowingand Anchoring the Provision of Policing and Security.' Theoretical Criminology, 10(4): 44 9-479.. 2006b. 'Policing and Security as Club Goods : The New Enclosures.' In J. Wood & B.Dupont (eds.). Democracy, Society and the Governance of Security. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press, 111-138.

Dupont, B. 2006. 'Power Struggles in the Field of Security: Implications for DemocraticTransformation.' In J. Wood & B. Dupont (eds.). Democracy, Society and the Governance ofSecurity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Garland, D 1996. 'The Limits ofthe Sovereign State - Strategies of Crime Control in Contem porarySociety.' British Journal of Criminology, 36: 445-471.

Innes, M. 2004. 'Reinventing Tradition? Reassurance, Neighbourhood Security and Policing.'Criminal Justice, 4(2): 151-171.

Kinsey, R., Lea, J. & Young, J. 1986. Losing the Fight against Crime. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Loader, 1. & Walker, N. 2007. Civilizing Security. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Marks, M. & Goldsmith, A. 2006. 'The State, the People and Democratic Policing: The Case of

South Africa.' In J. Wood & B. Dupont (eds.). De mocracy, Society and the Governance ofSecurity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Marks, M., Shearing, C. & Wood, J. 2009. 'Who should the Police be? Finding a New Narrative for

Community Policing in South Africa.' Po//'ce Practice and Research, 10(2): 145-157.Marks, M. & Wood, J. 2007. 'The South African Policing Nexus: Charting the Policing Network in

Durban.' South frican Review of Sociology, 38(2): 134-160.. 2008. 'Generating Youth Safety From Below: Situating Young People at the Centre ofKnowledge-based Policing.'In T WUamson {ed.). Handbook of Knowledge Based PolicingCurrent Conceptions and Future D irections. West Sussex: John Wiley and Sons.

Menkhaus, K. 2007. 'Governance without Government in Somalia: Spoilers, State Building andthe Politics ot Coping. International Security, 31(3): 74-10 6.

Mthembu, B. 2008. Street Comm ittees Target Crime. Daily News, August 2008.

Reiner, R. 1992. The Politics ofthe Police, second edition. New York: Harvester WheatsheafReiss, A.J. Jr. & Bordua D.J. 1967. 'Environment and Organization: A Perspective on the Police.' In

D.J. Bordua (ed.). The Police: Six Sociological Essays. New York: Wiley.Rhodes, R. 2006. 'The Sour Laws of Network Govemance.' ln J. Fleming & J. Wood (eds.) Fighting

Crime Together The Challenges o f Policing and Security N etworks. Sydney: University of NewSouth Wales Press.

Robbins, G. & Skinner, C. 2009. 'Public Debate Needed on Warwick Triangle.' The Mercury, 9 June.Roche, D. 2002. 'Restorative Justice and the Regulatory State in South African Townships.'

British Journal of Criminology, 42: 514533.

Shearing, C. 2006. 'Reflections on the refusal to acknowledge private governments.' In J. Woodand B. Dupont (eds.). Democracy, Society and the Governance of Security. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press,11-33.


21/23

Monique Merks and Debby onnin

- . 2007. 'Police: Past, Present and Future .' Opening K eynote Address, Nordie Police ResearchConference, Vaxjo, Sweden, 6 August.-. 2008. 'Urban Security Dilemmas and Governance in Africa.' Paper presented at the CLEEN

Foundation for Justice Sector Reform Annual Conference, Lagos, 9 December.Singh, A. 2008. Policing and Crime Control in Post-Apartheid South Africa. Hampshire: Ashgate

Publishers.

Steinberg, J. 2008. Thin Blue: The Unwritten Rules of Policing in South Africa. Cape Town:Jonathan Ball.

Thatcher, D. 2009. 'Community Policing without the Police? The Limits of Order Maintenancby the Community.' In P. Grabosky (ed.). Community Policing and Peace Keeping. BocaRotan: CRC Press.

Wood, J. 2006a. 'Dark Networks, Bright Networks and the Place ofthe Police.' In J. Fleming

J. Wood (eds.). Fighting Crime Together: The Challenge of Policing and Security Networks.

Sydney: University of New South Wales Press.. 2006b. Research and Innovation in the Field of Security: A Nodal Governance View. In JWood B. Dupont (eds.). Democracy. Society and the Governance of Security. Cam bridge:Cambridge University Press, 217-241.

Wood, J. Shearing, C. 2007. Imagining Security. Cullompton: Willan.Zedner, L. 2006. 'Policing before and after the Police: The Historical Antecedents of Contemporar

Crime Control. ritish Journal of Criminology 46(1): 78-97.

Interviews and focus groupsBunting, D. Raymond, D. (pseudonyms). Founders of PalmRidge Neighbourhood AssociationBerea, Durban, 26 M arch 2009. Participants in focus group.

Coen, A. Participant in Community Police Forum Annual General Meeting, Durban Central PolicStation, 13 February 2009.

Gwede, T. Mabusa, P. (pseudonyms). Warwick Triangle, Durban, 20 November 2008. Participantsin focus group with members of Traders against Crime.

Kwela, T (pseudonym). Newlands East Street Committee Leader, Newlands East, Durban, 26 Januar2009.

Malimela, T Newlands East Station Commissioner, Newlands East, Durban. Participant in focugroup with police officers, 15 November 2008.

Pillay, S. (pseudonym). Station Commissioner, Durban Central Police Station, 13 February 2009.Smit, P. (pseudonym). Mayville Police Station Commissioner, Mayville, Durban, 10 March 2009.Xaba, 1. (pseudonym). Newlands East Street Committee Leader, Newlands East, Durban, 1

November 2008.


22/23


BIOGR PHIC L NOTES

Monique Marks is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work and CommunityDevelopm ent. She is also an Associate o fthe Centre of Criminology at the University of Cape Town.She has published widely in the areas of youth politics ethnography security gove ma nce policelabour relations and police organisational change. Aside from publishing in a range of South Africanand intemational jou m als she has published three books. Young Warriors: Youth Poiitics Identityand Violence in South Africa; Transforming Robocops: Changing Police in South Africa; and PoliceOccupational Culture: New Debates and Directions. The author can be contacted at: The School ofSocial Work and Com munity Developmen t University of Kw aZulu-Na tal Howard College Durban4 0 4 1 .

Dr Debby onnin has a PhD in Sociology from the University of the Witwatersrand. She teachesin Industrial Orga nisational and Labo ur Studies at the University of Kw aZulu -Na tal and is curren tlyHead of the School of Sociology and Social Studies. Her PhD examined political violence in

KwaZulu-Natal and the creation of political identities. She has published widely in this area. She iscurrently researching in the area of textile design with a focus on the fumishing sector of the SouthAfrican textile industry. The author can be contacted at: The School of Sociology and Social StudiesUniversi ty of KwaZulu-Natal Howard College Durban 4 04 1.


23/23

policing nexus in durban

Documents