Tip-off box to fight crime has pros and cons
Mkhululi Ndamase Insight
South Africans hardly ever agree on anything but one thing that everyone – black or white, rich or poor - concurs with is that crime has reached crisis levels.
The majority of citizens are continually living in fear that they might be the next victims.
One thing is for sure – something has to be done and fast. More innovative and effective ways of fighting crime are needed.
And for those to succeed we need incorruptible police officers.
Some police are in the payroll of the criminals terrorising communities. In return, those trusted with the important task of protecting South Africans protect thugs, resulting in lawlessness being the order of the day.
Yes, painting all police officers with the same corrupt brush would be completely wrong, malicious and inaccurate.
There are a few good cops who have not brought shame to the badge and on a daily basis put their lives in danger to serve and protect. Kudos to them as they do so for meagre salaries.
But I digress.
That is a topic for another day.
We have a serious crime problem. Everyone knows this. Children and women are raped every day.
There has also been a spike in the number of women being set alight allegedly by jealous boyfriends.
This is over and above the abuse women have to endure on a daily basis.
Anyone can be a victim of crime, serious or petty, anytime in the country.
Police bosses will tell you they are stretched thin and have been doing their best over the years with limited resources and personnel.
But their best has, quite frankly, and unfortunately not been enough. We are not turning the corner as we have dismally failed to curb crime.
Police minister Bheki Cele announced what he probably thought was an innovative way of fighting crime when he, during the official launch of the safer festive season in Port Elizabeth last week, announced that every police station will have a “criminal box”.
This means anyone with a tip-off can simply walk into a police station and drop a piece of paper in the “criminal box” with details of the alleged crime that has been committed, the alleged perpetrator’s details, like name and surname and their home address.
Just like any other plan, Cele’s grand plan has pros and cons.
One pro is that police informers will be guaranteed anonymity and protection from criminals.
Corrupt officers are suspected of selling out informers at times, resulting in “snitches getting stitches”.
Police stations have over the years been criticised for not being victim friendly, so this, if effectively implemented, should help address that.
Unfortunately, from where I am sitting, the cons far outweigh the pros and this is scary.
For starters, some people are childish and vindictive and might use the “criminal boxes” to get back at their enemies.
This might result in police being used by some people as their personal “hit squad” to arrest their enemies.
This will not only result in police, who always complain about a lack of resources, wasting time by checking out a frivolous tip-off, but will expose the already prone to lawsuits police ministry to more legal action.
While police might be sent on a wild goose chase, someone who might be in desperate need of police help, might die.
Should this noble “criminal box” idea not be correctly implemented, we will likely see more cases of harassment, assault (because, let’s face it some of our men and women in blue can at time be overzealous), and assault suspects because of their
sakubetha thina [translated: we will assault you] mentality and wrongful arrests, opened against the state.
If it is implemented, Cele has to ensure that police officers do not break the law in the process. This must not be another poorly thought out plan as was the case with the closure of taxi operating routes because of taxi violence in the former Transkei earlier this year.
What we saw with the shutdown of the operating routes was a minister who appeared to have taken the decision without putting contingency plans in place like providing alternative transportation.
That was a disaster as hundreds of people had to walk to and from work because Cele “shot first and thought later”.
A detailed plan of how the “criminal boxes” will work must be availed at every police station or this will be another government failure.
Cele cannot and should not announce all these grand plans without explaining how they will be implemented.
He has to get provincial commissioners on board and lead by example.
As a journalist, I will admit Cele is every reporter’s dream interviewee because he gives great, headline grabbing quotes, but he has to be more than just a goldmine for quote seeking journalists. How are we guaranteed that the boxes will, in fact, be checked on a regular basis? Who will oversee it?
I have my serious doubt about this plan, but I hope I will be proven wrong and it will net a lot of criminals
A detailed plan of how the ‘criminal boxes’ will work must be availed at all police stations