South Africa: Police Use Best Technology to Fight Crime

Pretoria South African Police Services (SAPS) management is committed to ensuring that police use the best and most modern technology to prevent and combat crime. This is according to police spokesperson Captain Percy Morokane in response to the recent South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) report which called for more efficiency on the part of the Criminal Justice System, which includes the police services, courts and correctional services. SAPS has taken note of the recent reports by the SAHRC with regard to a need for a review of the current Crime Prevention Strategy," he said. Captain Morokane said the SAPS has a newly acquired and installed Genetic Sample Processing Systems at the Forensic Laboratory in Pretoria which is used for DNA Analysis - a breakthrough in terms of turn-around efficiency. The police have established a Biometric Identification and Enhancement Solution capability within the Criminal Record Centre to deal with biometrics, which will facilitate the identification of criminals. Recent successes achieved in the past two weeks alone - notably in Gauteng and various other parts of the country - can be attributed to the implementation of the National Crime Prevention Strategy. Captain Morokane stated that one of the major National Crime Prevention Strategy successes is the establishment of the High-Technology Centre to coordinate information and the utilisation of skills and technology to support investigators in identifying suspects, oppose bail, apprehend wanted suspects and establish links between cases of a serious nature. Measures aimed at eradicating crime must be shared by forming sustainable partnerships with various stakeholders, he said. These will include big business, non-government agencies (NGOI's), faith-based religious organisations, other law enforcement agencies and the communities. Captain Morokane explained that the key policy documents governing policing in South Africa are: Section 205 of the Constitution; the SAPS Act, 1995; 1996 National Crime Prevention Strategy, which is complimented by the 2000 SAPS Operational Strategy. The aim of the Operational Strategy is to improve service delivery by preventing, combating and investigating crime. The SAPS strategic plan for 2005 to 2010 sets out several operational priorities such as combating organised crime, serious and violent crime, crime against women and children and improving service delivery to communities. "The key organisational priorities that underpin these operational priorities are human resources, budgeting and resource management. The ultimate aim of the SAPS is to stabilise the levels of crime over the medium term," he said.