Changing police, policing change: the case of Kwazulu Natal

Abstract

This article examines the shifts in policing in South Africa toward community oriented policing, in line with international trends in policing. In so doing, the paper locates policing in South Africa within the global context of democratisation, privatisation, and citizen involvement. The main thrust of the paper, however, is to understand how rank and file police officers in KwaZulu Natal have received police reformation, and whether they feel willing and equipped to move toward a new style of policing. The paper argues that while these officers in the main appear to acknowledge and even welcome policing shifts, they are ill equipped, and lack the training to be able to successfully make this transition. Furthermore, the social and political realities of KwaZulu Natal, in particular its divided communities, make accountable and consultative policing extremely difficult. Despite the difficulties of this change process, if state democracy is to become a reality, the South African Police Service need to be the key players in creating a secure environment in KwaZulu Natal. This has to be done through changing both the internal workings of the state police, and their relations with their “external” public clients.

“In the police world-view, society, ever threatened by the forces of evil, is teetering on the brink of disorder and chaos, held in place by the ‘thin blue line’ (McConville and Shepherd, 1992: 149)