Senior police management should take notice of some disquieting perceptions among police reservists contained in newly compiled research, as the South African Police Service (SAPS) considers making more use of reservists in future.
The arresting research delves into the impressions of active police reservists and their role in the SAPS.
Prof Coen Marais of Unisa’s department of criminology said on Tuesday: ”Police reservists are 100% members of the civilian population who work on a voluntary basis, and who perform exactly the same work as permanent force members.”
He said research was conducted in four ”priority” police provinces: the Western Cape, Gauteng, the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, and to a lesser degree the Northern Cape. So far only the information from Gauteng has been collated.
”This information will be used by police headquarters to help determine if reservists are happy, what the causes were of unhappiness … [because] the police wanted to utilise more reservists in the future,” Marais said.
Coen, who compiled the first findings, said 1 000 questionnaires were distributed to police stations across Gauteng.
Among the most important deductions that can be made from respondents’ information is that there is a reasonably equal distribution of male and female reservists in Gauteng, with the language distribution ”normal” between Afrikaans (15,75%), English (17,25%), Sotho group (28,25%), Nguni group (25,25%) and other groups (13,50%).
Research shows that the majority of reservists are constables, and the majority of reservists who completed the questionnaires fall in the category zero to five years’ service (77,69%).
This shows that their level of experience and training is limited. To train these persons adequately by means of in-service training should not pose much of a problem as 55,39% of respondents possessed a grade 12 school certificate, argued Marais.
”The necessity of in-service training is furthermore emphasised by the fact that 88,69% of the respondents perform line functions … The majority of respondents [90,13%] were, however, of the opinion that reservists could be subjected to more practical training.”
Marais said because 36,41% of the reservists were unemployed, one could deduce that they volunteered their services to enhance their chances when it comes to recruitment into the SAPS.
What police management could find disconcerting is the responses from respondents on some of their impressions.
Asked whether everyone at the station is involved in the planning process, 46,6% of all the ranks did not agree, while 22,4% were not sure.
Asked whether stations are managed democratically, 32% answered positively, 34,3% negatively. The ”not sures” were 33,7%.
Asked whether police management is reluctant to take decisions, 43,1% answered yes, 25,2% said no, and 31,7% were not sure.
”It should, however, be mentioned that 50% of sergeants, inspectors and captains were of the opinion that police management are reluctant to take decisions. Superintendents and senior superintendents were not sure how to respond,” said Marais.
He said it is interesting that 50% of all ranks were completely confident that the Pretoria head office is able to manage the SAPS, but the worrying factor was that 30% were not sure whether that ”genuinely” is the case.
The same is true about the manner in which National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi manages the police, with 48% satisfied with his performance.
However, 31% disagreed and 21% were not sure, meaning that 52% of the reservists reacted negatively to Selebi’s management style.
Other findings are that there was consensus among Gauteng reservists that the reservist commanding officers are ”slightly more” competent that their counterparts from the SAPS.
On the statement that subordinates in the SAPS no longer respect their superiors, 43,8% of all ranks agreed.
As far as job satisfaction is concerned, 93% said that discipline is very important in the SAPS, but 53% were of the opinion that discipline at their stations is poor.
Forty-seven% of respondents felt that affirmative action cause tension among members, and 45% felt that the SAPS is not effective at all in ensuring that reservists are happy at work.
Regarding efficiency, only 18% thought there is good cooperation between the courts and the SAPS, and the majority (90%) felt that reservists should form part of the rank structure of the SAPS.
Regarding uniforms and gear, 91% felt that reservists should perform their duties in uniform, 80% agreed that firearms should be issued on a personal equipment receipt, and 92% were in favour of reservist units having their own
vehicles. — Sapa