An evaluation of the implementation of the South African Police Service’s partnership guidelines

Abstract

The South African Police Service (SAPS) is using the SAPS Guidelines for the Establishment of Crime Prevention Partnerships to guide the implementation of crime prevention partners. The SAPS has a mandate to prevent crime in the country, therefore the partnership policing concept has been implemented in the SAPS to achieve this mandate. The idea behind the implementation of partnerships is to fight crime and security issues as a collective and share responsibilities with other stakeholders. Partnership guidelines are guided by the National Development Plan: Vision for 2030 and have been further encapsulated in community policing philosophy. Partnership guidelines aim to establish a common vision of creating critical crime prevention projects or initiatives that involve various organisations in the communities such as government departments, non-governmental organisations and community-based structures to ensure that communities thrive. Partnerships can assist in bringing resources and other expertise towards effectively addressing crime issues. This research followed a qualitative research approach, involving semi-structured interviews with experienced and knowledgeable participants working with partnership agreements from the SAPS and businesses entities. A literature review was also conducted in order to have a thorough knowledge of the subject both in local and international settings. The study focused on the importance of SAPS partnerships and of maintaining these partnerships in the quest to reduce crime. The most important aspect is the partnership agreement that has to be completed to cement these relationships. These agreements commonly known as the memorandum of understanding are done in line with the SAPS Guidelines for the Establishment of Crime Prevention Partnerships. Therefore, this study evaluated the implementation of the these guidelines and identified gaps in the implementation of partnerships. The outcomes of this study also suggest that forming relationships between the SAPS and other stakeholders can help the police reduce crime while also alleviating resource constraints. In addition, this research concludes that the SAPS needs to review its current partnership guidelines since many challenges are still being encountered which is affecting the SAPS’ ability to effectively implement partnerships.