Crime prevention should not be the sole responsibility of the police but of the country as a whole, Institute of Security Studies (ISS) researcher Johan Burger said at his book launch in Pretoria on Wednesday.
Titled Strategic Perspective on Crime and Policing in South Africa, the book outlines strategies which can be used to combat crime and makes recommendations for crime prevention.
Burger, a former assistant commissioner in the South African police with 36 years’ experience, described violent crime as a double-barrelled shotgun which went side-by-side with socio-economic problems.
He emphasised that police crime prevention strategies should be visible and that they should maintain order.
”The more effective this is, the better the police would be at deterring criminals,” he said.
Hiring more police personnel was not the solution, Burger said.
The resources were there and there are many police units in the country. The problem lay with poor management of police units, he said.
”Because of poor management in place, resources are not being utilised effectively.”
Burger recommended a comprehensive analysis of crime and its underlying causes, accountability of national co-ordination structures, and the development of sub-strategies to enable each government department to effectively deal with crime.
Burger said the book was inspired by his work in the police service and constant criticism that the police were not doing their jobs.
He had looked at models from the United States and the United Kingdom on how they dealt with crime prevention.
”I hope the book will inform people, especially politicians, so they can better understand the problems of crime in South Africa and see that there are alternatives,” he said. – Sapa