Urban safety report shows crime in city as ‘high’ and ‘increasing’

FINDINGS in the 2017 State of Urban Safety in South African Cities Report drafted by the Urban Safety Reference Group, are cause for concern.

The report states that crime in the city of Cape Town is high and increasing, despite the fact that our city has the lowest level of poverty (as measured by the Human Development Index), the lowest income inequality, and the second lowest youth unemployment rate of all the cities measured.

This may seem counter-intuitive, and the report’s authors propose that the reason for this is the disproportionate access to alcohol, drugs and guns in Cape Town, which is apparently double that of any other city. If this is so, then tackling access to alcohol, drugs and guns should be our strategic focus.

If, for example, we were to scratch below the surface of 93 900 drug related crime cases reported last year, one would begin to see the strategy is misaligned to driving down access to drugs. Over the last five years, the number of drug-related crimes in the Western Cape has increased by 22% from 76 600 to 93 900 cases. This means that the police are actively looking for drugs – as this indicator suggests, numbers for this type of crime are driven by police action for detection. This is good you may say. And to some extent it is, but is it the best possible strategy to reduce access?

With such huge volumes of drug-related cases, one would be forgiven for thinking that substantial amounts of drugs are being pulled off our streets. However, 72% of the huge volume of drug cases analysed are in fact for less than a gram of substance. In three out of four cases analysed, police officers searched, possibly arrested individuals, cases opened, detectives sent samples for analysis, forensic experts tested evidence and cases sent to court – for less than a gram of substance.

And if we look at the difference between drug possession and drug dealing cases, the trend of seeking volume of cases over volume of drugs is sustained. Of the overall number of cases analysed in the last four years, it is possession – and not dealing cases that are increasing.

In a context of severely under-resourced police and detectives, we need to make difficult decisions and focus resources to where there can be the most “bang for buck”. It would then make sense to focus on increasing the dealing cases and big hauls, on targeting the so called “high flyers” and distributors, and not small time drug users. The essence of a good strategy is to understand the need for co-ordinating and focusing resources to maximise desired outcomes. One of the Urban Safety Report’s recommendations is a strong focus on the quality and appropriateness of strategy, rather than simply its quantity.

The problem then is not that we don’t have the ability or the technology. We do. But we have to adjust our priorities, our strategies and our policies to align them to where there can be the largest impact in the interests of safety in our communities.

● Mireille Wenger is a MPL and DA provincial spokesperson on Community Safety.