It is trite that perception matters. What we perceive to be true becomes true to us. News that two men held police at gunpoint, locked them in a cell and proceeded to ransack the police station, stealing firearms and ammunition, does not do well for the perception that the police are able to protect citizens from crime.
This is especially so, considering that just last month, two police officers were robbed of their service firearms and locked in the back of their van in Wells Estate, Gqeberha, in Eastern Cape. It is unfortunate, but true that for many, reporting cases to the police is no more than an administrative act aimed at complying with insurance company requirements.
Feeling safe and secure is not a favour the state owes its citizens. It is an obligation.
The South African constitution enjoins the state to provide accountable, effective and service-orientated policing. The rights enshrined in the constitution oblige the state to provide adequate security from those who perpetrate crimes. What then is to be done?
The ministry of police should be honest about the levels of training and ability of police to respond to the types of crime we commonly have in SA. It does not take a safety and security expert to come to the conclusion that the criminals are either more skilled at their work than police are, or are by far more daring.
Police training should adapt to this reality, both for the safety of individual officers and to give society the assurance that they are up to the task. The other method preferred, that of hiring private security firms to protect police stations, is unsustainable.
It means that limited resources that should be spent in preventing or detecting crimes are used to pay private entities to do what police should be doing as a matter of course. It also does not help to undo the perception that police are helpless in the face of crime.
This, however, should not be understood to be exculpating criminals from their nefarious deeds. A poorly trained police force or service does not give anyone a licence to commit crimes, be they against the police themselves or against society.
That said, the pact society has is with its government, not the criminals. That is why the state bears the ultimate responsibility for the feeling, and the fact, of being safe and secure.
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