The functioning of a community police forum in the Southern Metropolitan Substructure : an exploratory study

M.A.In every society there are markers that tell a great deal about the society. In South Africa, one of the most significant has been the system of law and order. Here, policing has traditionally been done by force, brute force if necessary, in the service of the government. If the society as a whole is to be transformed, a cornerstone will be the transformation of the police" (Marks, 1995:20). The above statement captures the essence of the discussion in this chapter, namely the importance of transformation of the police towards becoming more democratic. Policing in South Africa has always been an area of conflict. The South African Police force had always been a highly repressive, politicised and unaccountable organisation where human rights abuses abounded (Marks, 1995:vt3; Midgley, 1995:3). The police were used by the state to enforce the apartheid laws and to suppress opposition to apartheid (van der Spuy in Nel & Bezuidenhout, 1995:21). While this caused some sectors of society to feel safe and protected, police in essence saw themselves as protecting the state against certain communities and individuals (Brogden and Shearing, 1993:104; Marks, 1995:vt3; Midgley, 1995:3). This type of policing led to a deeply entrenched enmity between the police and the majority of communities (Shearing & Mzamane, 1992:6). Policing in South Africa has thus never been non-partisan, impartial or apolitical (Scharf, 1993:4). The above factors, and the changing social and political environment have necessitated that the police transform to adapt to the demands that these changes require of them • (van der Spuy in Nel & Bezuidenhout, 1995:22). Scharf (1993:4) has reiterated this fact by stating that ".... what we now expect from the police is that they become partisan to the type of order required in a democracy". This requires not only a changing of the legal parameters and internal management structure, but that a new ethos be created. This transformation process must therefore be located within a framework and philosophy which will not only facilitate change of mindset but also necessitate it. Community policing is such a philosophy (Lue, 1994:1). The term community policing has however been used differently in different contexts. One of the reasons for this is that there are different opinions on what community policing is. It is argued that community policing is not a ready made theory or strategy (Lue, 1994:1). There is the added difficulty of finding common definitions for the terms "community", "policing" and "community policing". Community policing has thus become a contested terrain