Police Minister says no study done on impact of load shedding on crime

POLICE Minister Bheki Cele says the impact of load shedding on crime still requires thorough analysis and the application of carefully constructed research.

Replying to parliamentary questions from ANC MP Siphokuhle Patrein, Cele said the SAPS had not conducted nor commissioned any specific study on the impact of load shedding on crime, safety and security.

“However, during load shedding, the recording of crime is not affected since police stations use specific registers in community service centres to record crime manually when required.

“These registers include the SAPS 297 (backup complaints) and SAPS 441(backup for crime administration system) to record and register the number of complaints received and the crime that is reported to the SAPS.”

Cele said the SAPS had not conducted any study on docket analysis to establish the impact of load shedding on crime because load shedding varied from province to policing precinct.

“Furthermore, geographical areas in which load shedding is applied are not necessarily aligned to a specific policing precinct, but to localities that are predetermined by either Eskom or specific municipalities.”

Load shedding was not applied uniformly across all provinces and police precincts as schedules changed at very short notice, he said.

“Load shedding is not a variable, that is always taken into consideration when crime is recorded.

“Some police officers will note crime has happened during load shedding; others will not record this fact.”

Cele also said the SAPS CAS did not make provision for recording crime that may have taken place during load shedding.

“The determination of the impact load shedding has on reported crime will require a thorough analysis of all the above mentioned variables and the application of a carefully constructed research and sampling methodology.”