Mpumalanga’s deployment of 1,200 crime prevention wardens ‘unlikely to make much difference’ — security expert

1 Aug 2024

Mpumalanga will deploy 1,200 crime prevention wardens in September, following Gauteng’s controversial initiative. Questions remain over training and accountability — and whether the wardens will have any impact on crime.

Mpumalanga is replicating Gauteng’s crime prevention warden (CPW) programme by recruiting 1,200 CPWs to enhance the province’s crime-fighting measures.

“The department first placed the advertisement in the media on Sunday, 7 July 2024. The closing date was set for Friday, 19 July 2024. All applications were done online and the team that deals with the selection process will be set up in due course,” said Moeti Mmusi, spokesperson for the Mpumalanga Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison.

Applicants must be between 18 and 50 years old; have experience in crime-prevention environments; have no criminal record; and be willing to undergo physical and theoretical training. The minimum educational requirement is Grade 10.

“The department will set up a management team which has already commenced with a programme to oversee the process of finalising the shortlisting, screening and selection processes,” said Mmusi.

Gareth Newham, the head of justice and violence prevention at the Institute for Security Studies, said provincial governments had to develop clear strategic plans for improving public safety before embarking on expensive and risky initiatives.

“They should be able to explain which specific crimes will be reduced in which particular geographic areas and exactly how the crime reduction intervention will work,” he said.

Full range of duties not clear

The wardens would be based in all 90 police stations in the province and start work on 1 September, said Mmusi. The project was fully funded by the department for the current financial year, he added, but would not reveal how much it cost.

Newham said that if large amounts of money were available for crime reduction, it should rather be spent on targeted interventions that have proven to be effective.

“Moreover, it is always necessary to rigorously assess anti-crime efforts to establish the extent to which they are working or not. This is important so that public money is not spent on initiatives that have little or no impact on public safety,” he said.

Mmusi said, “The full range of [the CPWs’] activities has been developed, although we cannot go into the details. They will be expected to patrol crime hotspots and assist in other crime prevention initiatives when required to do so.

“The department will not disclose the full details of the training programme at this stage. We will provide the details in due course. It is, however, expected that they will receive training on firearms control and crowd management, among others.”

Newham said the training CPWs receive should depend on their role and long-term strategy. Ideally, they would be trained in communications, problem-solving, teamwork and victim empowerment, such as how to refer victims of crime to support services.

“Importantly, they should be trained in conflict resolution skills so that they know how to de-escalate volatile situations. They could also be trained in basic police procedures if they are working closely with the SAPS, situational awareness and some form of self-defence skills,” he said.

Accountability and oversight measures

The CPWs will sign performance agreements which will outline the indicators the department will use to measure their effectiveness, said Mmusi.

They will be governed through the Criminal Procedure Act as peace officers, as well as the Firearms Control Act, the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

For any category of persons to be designated as peace officers and allocated powers, a notice has to be published in the Government Gazette, delineating the category of person, the area in which they operate, the offences against which they act, and their powers in respect of acting against the offences.

Additionally, for any person to exercise these powers as a peace officer, they need a certificate of appointment signed by the national police commissioner, who must be satisfied as to the person’s lack of previous convictions, that they have not been declared unfit to possess a firearm and that they have undergone relevant training. The process typically takes months.

Crime and policing experts have voiced concerns that the Gauteng CPWs are inexperienced and ill-equipped to deal with the complex laws they will be expected to enforce and their intervention could make certain situations worse.

Read more: New cadre of crime-busters? Gauteng’s Crime Prevention Wardens are doing little to combat crime, say residents

Newham said it was not clear whether oversight and accountability mechanisms were in place, and that establishing such mechanisms would be a good start.

“These mechanisms should be easy to use and well-advertised in the communities where patrollers are deployed. I have not seen posters or heard radio adverts explaining to the communities the role of the crime wardens, what can be expected from them and how to report problematic behaviour on their part,” he said.

Mmusi said the department would work closely with all stations where wardens were deployed to address community concerns or feedback regarding the wardens.

“The department, in partnership with SAPS, will ensure accountability and oversight of the CPW actions. However, it is believed that incidents will be minimised because of the ongoing training that will be provided,” he said.

“Any wardens who violate the conditions of their employment will be subjected to the process of consequence management.”

Mmusi said the department’s community police relations unit supported community policing forums and could assist in building trust and cooperation between CPWs and residents.

“This assists in ensuring that there is a good relationship between the community and the police. We also ensure that applicants with criminal records are not part of the CPWs because this will anger members of the public,” he said.

Read more: Murder, mayhem and fighting crime in Gauteng – what’s all the fuss about the amaPanyaza?

Unlikely to make a difference in crime levels

There has been no overall improvement in public safety in Gauteng since the launch of the CPWs in March 2023, and most violent crimes such as murder, robberies and assaults have continued to increase.

Newham said simply hiring people, giving them basic training and sending them to patrol areas without this being part of a clear strategy was highly unlikely to sustainably improve public safety.

“This type of initiative also comes with a lot of risks if these wardens do not have the appropriate characteristics and temperament for the work, are not properly trained or resourced, do not have adequate frontline supervision and managerial support and are not subject to rigorous oversight and accountability mechanisms,” he said.

“The best that could be hoped for is that the wardens are deployed at specific geographic hotspots for crimes such as street robbery, assault, theft, etc, so that they can play a role in making some specific locations safer for pedestrians that need to move from transport nodes such as taxi ranks to their residences,” said Newham.

“However, deploying 1,200 people to address the ongoing increases in violent crime in a province of over 5 million people is unlikely to make much difference.” DM

Categories:

Tags:

DM is much better if you are signed in...

Maverick Citizen

Full range of duties not clear

Accountability and oversight measures

Unlikely to make a difference in crime levels