Assessing the Extent in which the Tshwane Metro Police and South African Police Service Have Joint Operations to Clamp Down Crime Within the Tshwane Area

Abstract

This study explores the extent in which the Tshwane Metro Police (TMP) and South African Police Service (SAPS) have joint operations to clamp down crime within the Tshwane area. The 1998 White Paper on Safety and Security cherish a multi-disciplinary approach for crime prevention, while the 2016 White Paper on Policing promotes inter-sectoral partnership and desegregated service delivery between the SAPS and Metropolitan Police. The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) was introduced to perform traffic duties, enforcement of municipal by-laws and to assist the SAPS in fight against crime within the boundaries of metropolitan municipalities. The study adopted a qualitative approach. Twenty-one (21) participants from SAPS, TMP, Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and academics in the field of policing as well as former members of SAPS were interviewed using open-ended interview. The researcher followed purposive sampling to select participants of the study. The researcher found that there are regular joint operations between the TMP and SAPS. Moreover, the study found that it is the responsibility of SAPS to initiate joint operations. The study recommends that the responsibility to initiate the joint operations need to be shared with the MPD and/ or MPS to strengthen good cooperation towards crime prevention between the two policing agencies.

Keywords

• tshwane metropolitan police
• metropolitan police department
• south african police service
• joint operations
• tshwane area