Protector or predator? - Institute for Security Studies
Protector or predator? - Institute for Security Studies
Protector or predator? - Institute for Security Studies
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Gareth Newham and Andrew Faull<br />
action against all police misconduct, and supp<strong>or</strong>ts and rewards police professionalism,<br />
will inevitably lead to changes in police <strong>or</strong>ganisational culture.<br />
Police <strong>or</strong>ganisations can capitalise on community mobilisation by using ‘c<strong>or</strong>ruption<br />
scandals’ to drive key ref<strong>or</strong>m initiatives. Police ref<strong>or</strong>m analyst Lawrence<br />
Sherman highlighted how this can be done:<br />
If, in the long term, the likelihood of sanctions has not been perceived to<br />
have increased, the net result of scandal has been to encourage c<strong>or</strong>ruption<br />
in a number of cases. Conversely, if scandal has been followed by an increase<br />
in the likelihood of sanctions – as has been demonstrated by administrative<br />
sanctions and awareness of new control policies – then scandal seems to have<br />
been the initial f<strong>or</strong>ce necessary to sever resilient relationships. Control policy<br />
is then left with the far easier task of merely preventing their renewal. 154<br />
The establishment of commissions of inquiry following a public scandal can<br />
play a significant role in supp<strong>or</strong>ting the ref<strong>or</strong>m of police agencies experiencing<br />
widespread c<strong>or</strong>ruption. A study by Newburn of a number of such commissions<br />
of inquiry following police c<strong>or</strong>ruption scandals led to the following conclusions:<br />
■■<br />
■■<br />
Institutionalised and widespread c<strong>or</strong>ruption may be significantly reduced if<br />
the right conditions exist (e.g. political will) and appropriate strategies are<br />
adopted<br />
Official public inquiries established in the aftermath of a c<strong>or</strong>ruption scandal<br />
may play a vital role in the establishment of successful c<strong>or</strong>ruption control<br />
strategies<br />
■■<br />
Without sustained vigilance, m<strong>or</strong>e <strong>or</strong>ganised c<strong>or</strong>ruption is likely to appear 155<br />
Such a commission of inquiry may be necessary in South Africa. The scandals<br />
around the conviction of Selebi, and the Public <strong>Protect<strong>or</strong></strong>’s findings against Cele,<br />
suggest that police leadership alone may not be able to objectively address all<br />
the challenges facing the SAPS. However, rather than trying to ign<strong>or</strong>e <strong>or</strong> cover<br />
up these scandals, the President and Cabinet could use them to kick-start a campaign<br />
to effectively professionalise the SAPS.<br />
Monograph 182 47
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