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CHAPTER 3: THE RELEVANCE OF GENERAL CRIME PREVENTION FORMS AND MODELS IN DEFENCE FORCES
INTRODUCTION
The adoption and utilisation of crime prevention models is crucial as part of the effective development of crime prevention plans. Recent research has revealed that the independent utilisation of crime prevention models and community safety initiatives will most likely not produce any success as compared to a combination of models. Crime prevention as a strategy for governments is not a new phenomenon. It has long been agreed that one of the most effective ways of reducing the overall levels of crime is through the implementation of strategies or programmes aimed at preventing the incidence of crime.
According to the Integrated Social Crime Prevention Strategy (ISCPS) of 2011 (2011:20), government departments in SA have a major role to play in breaking the cycle of crime and violence through their intervention. Moreover, community partnerships, the government and other industries are also pivotal to the provision of crime prevention in either a situational or social approach (New South Wales Police Force Crime Prevention Strategy 2015-2017, 2014:3)
This chapter addresses the various crime prevention models, namely situational crime prevention (SCP), crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED), social crime prevention and the effective criminal justice system. The relevance of these crime prevention models for the MP are also addressed.
CRIME PREVENTION MODELS
There are four key models of crime prevention that each utilises different approaches to prevent crime. They do not yield similar results, since some methods bring quick results while others may take a while before results are seen (Clancy, [sa]:1). In other words, these four models have varying strengths and weaknesses, but they work best when combined. The four models of crime prevention are situational crime prevention, crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED), social crime prevention and effective criminal justice crime prevention (Clancey, 2011:14 & Community Crime Prevention and Safety Plan, [sa]:8).
Situational crime prevention (SCP)
According to Komiya (2011:132), situational Crime Prevention makes it more difficult for offenders to commit crime by designing an environment in a permanent and systematic way to make it riskier to commit a crime. Komiya (2011:132) and Patel (2013:6) both state that SCP is about changing the design of an environment in such a way that it makes it difficult for people to commit crime and the rewards for committing crime are decreased. The point of departure is to see everything from an offender’s point of view.
SCP is about understanding and ensuring that ordinary citizens are aware of the opportunities that give rise to crime and helping them devise means of removing such opportunities or making them difficult to be recognised (Sutton et al., 2014:56). Basically, the aim of SCP is to solidify community relationships, to boost the levels of informal social control to prevent potential offences. Furthermore, SCP pays attention to people who are at the verge of offending by making them feel more integrated within a community (Helpful Crime Prevention Facts, 2013:10).
Crime prevention did not start as a policing approach, but rather as a scientific approach aimed at reducing crime by creating safer environments through design. Through this approach, crime prevention could move away from just being an approach that prevents offences through punishment and rehabilitation, to an approach that convinces offenders that crime does not pay and that it is not worthwhile (Plant & Scott, 2009:33 & Clancey, [sa]:1). SCP believes in the underlying assumption that crime is often opportunistic. It also seeks to decrease the chances that offenders become involved in criminal behaviour. Target hardening and removal is one measure that helps to reduce crime, although it is effective only with some forms of crime, for example: installation of burglar proof to make it harder to break into a house (National Crime Prevention and Community Safety Strategy, 2010:12). Target hardening by means of locks and bolts is not a new phenomenon since land owners in medieval Britain used drawbridges and moats on the walls of their castles to protect them (Phillips, 2011:7). Target hardening may include the following (Implementation of Sector Policing, 2015:78):
Surveillance
Security fences
Alarm systems
Security lights
Burglar guards
Deployment of security guards
SCP, as defined in the White Paper on Safety and Security of 1998 (1998), includes all efforts aimed at reducing the social, economic and environmental factors suitable for certain types of crimes. The White Paper on the Police and the White Paper on Safety and Security 2015 (2015:9) state that it is important for the police to remain cautious regarding their part in the prevention of crime and the encouragement of safer communities. Furthermore, the 2015 White Paper on the Police stresses the necessity for an integrated view that understands that for crime to happen there are many factors that play a role, such as historical, social and economic factors.
The 1998 White Paper on Safety and Security (1998) also views the approach of safety and security from the vantage point of two comprehensively intertwined components, namely the police and law enforcement. The second component is that of crime prevention, which pays more attention to SCP with the understanding that it best addresses the major causes of crime.
The House of Commons Home Affairs Committee (2010:53) states that SCP is also aimed at reducing opportunities for the commission of a crime. It also emphasises the management and design of an environment so that the effort necessary to commit a crime is increased, in other words it becomes very difficult to commit a crime in that environment. SCP for instance advises that all things that may be tempting to an offender be placed out of sight as far as possible (House of Commons, Home Affairs Committee, 2010:53). Furthermore, an interesting factor is that SCP does not take long to implement and it yields immediate results.
There are five SCP techniques as identified by Linden (2007:149), and these techniques are the following:
Target hardening or access control makes the tools required to commit a crime more and increases the effort needed to commit a crime;
Adding more levels of both formal and informal surveillance and guardianship increases the risks of committing crime, thus making it difficult to commit crime. The Guidelines for Queensland (2007:46) states that there are three types of surveillance: the informal (example: casual observers), organised (example: trained security guards and other trained personnel) and mechanical surveillance (example: security cameras);
Rewards for committing crime are decreased through the identification of properties to facilitate recovery by ensuring that targets are eliminated and thus denying any crime benefits;
Peer pressure is controlled through the reduction of provocations, frustrations and conflicts; and
Clear rules and administration are set to eliminate any excuses.
In reducing people’s chances to commit crimes, SCP also addresses all the “hotspots” and the factors that make them hotspots (Attorney General and Justice, 2011:1). It also focuses on the characteristics that contribute to the vulnerability of victims of crime. SCP addresses technical objectives such as urban planning in ensuring public safety and restricts any factors that can engender the commission of crime (Czech Republic Crime Prevention Strategy, 2008–2011, 2008:3). Linden (2007:141) asserts that situational prevention is an approach that mainly focuses on criminal events, even if there are those offenders that are motivated to commit a crime. Increasing the surveillance of potential targets can help to decrease crime rates (Linden, 2007:141).
Welsh and Farrington (2010:23) further add that the situational approach is also sustained by theories that assert natural informal surveillance as a major contributor to crime prevention. An example here is the improvement of street lighting, which may increase street usage, which in turn adds to natural surveillance. Andresen and Felson ([sa]:3) are of the understanding that situational prevention is “non-social” or “anti-social”. They view situational prevention as a set of methods that are tailor-made to reduce opportunities that give rise to crime and to reduce offender convergences and dismantle hangouts that might set a platform for co-offending.
Siegel (2011:92) mentions that SCP includes the establishment of strategies aimed at decreasing a specific crime problem within a specific area, such as street-level drug dealing. Siegel (2011:92) further adds that criminal acts are prevented by:
Careful guarding of potential targets;
Controlling the means to commit crime; and
Careful monitoring of potential offenders.
The role that the private sector plays in developing situational prevention techniques has helped private entities to work out programmes that help them to prevent losses (Linden, 2007:154). The situational prevention model has been criticised as an approach that does not succeed in preventing crime, but that merely displaces crime (Wortley, 2010:3). This is because it does not focus on the disposition of offenders. If prevented in one criminal activity, they move to other opportunities (Wortley, 2010:3). Bajpai ([sa]:6) believes that the main objective of situational prevention is to change the way offenders think and to try to influence their decision making when it comes to the commission of crime by a particular design.
There are nine main points of situational crime prevention as identified by Cornish and Clarke ([sa]:200). They are the following:
SCP is practical rather than utopian and focuses on preventing crime instantly by looking at specific areas and situations. SCP resorts to cheaper ways of reducing crime, and this is done in three general ways: the design of safe settings, organisation of safe procedures and the development of secure products.
SCP reduces the opportunities for crime by ensuring that all crime targets become less rewarding, while escalating the risk and effort attributed with crime.
Crime displacement to some other places is not a characteristic of SCP. However, crime prevention results in the dispersion of crime benefits, decreasing crime even beyond the immediate setting.
SCP has had some successes in dealing with property crime, including dealing with vandalism on double-deck buses, correcting criminal use of telephones, preventing car and motorcycle theft, reducing retail theft, refusing to accept subway graffiti, as well as preventing fraud and the sale of stolen goods.
Other effective examples of SCP are the effective usage of lighting and the control of music strategies, although these measures should be applied in a considerate, convenient and advantageous manner.
Effecting changes to the settings, procedures and products that escalate crime opportunities can either improve or worsen a crime situation.
Minimising violence at spectator sports events, addressing cruising, controlling bar hopping and bar challenges and the subsequent prevention of drunk driving are some of the specific examples of successful SCP.
SCP techniques are used to address a new type of crime, namely identity theft, and this is done on both small and large scales.
The benefits of addressing repeat crimes include adequately decreasing crime at low cost; circumventing the normal political controversies; assisting the worst affected victims; and assisting everyone to think more clearly about crime.
There are seven misconceptions about situational crime prevention. Clarke rebuts these misconceptions in Homel (2005:40).
SCP methods that were employed in Canada produced some significant successes. However, its impact was limited due to the fact that communities were not well conversant with the methods and lacked the expertise to fully implement the programmes (Linden, 2007:155). Linden (2007:148) further adds that the success of situational crime prevention strategies requires a comprehensive analysis and understanding of the crime and its social background. This analysis can assist in determining the best prevention strategies. The SAPS Crime Prevention Unit has been the main role player through the various provincial Departments of Community Safety. Most departments within the RSA do have direct connections to the SCP and other programmes that help to bring about the achievement of SCP main goals (ISCPS of 2011, 2011:22).
Neighbourhood watch
It takes responsible citizens and good leadership to establish a safe neighbourhood that is able to assist the police in fighting crime. This statement is emphasised in the Crime Prevention in Ontario: a framework for action ([sa]:24). Bain (2014) mentions that the police are there to support the community, but it is up to the community to take a leading role in the fight against crime by being responsible and accountable for their own safety and security. Therefore, neighbourhood watch is another way in which community members can prevent crime. Schneider (2010:153) defines neighbourhood watch as a crime prevention approach that represents the community defence model.
Residents are encouraged to be more cautious in watching each other’s homes or their block of apartments and to report any suspicious movements to other people and the police. Neighbourhood watch is a system that stresses the significance of community awareness and encourages the community to take a proactive role in preventing and solving crime (Implementation of Sector Policing, 2015:78).
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dedication
Declaration
Editor’s declaration
Acknowledgements
Summary
List of acronyms
CHAPTER 1: GENERAL ORIENTATION
1.1 INTRODUCTION
1.2 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
1.3 PROBLEM STATEMENT
1.4 RESEARCH AIM AND OBJECTIVES
1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1.6 VALUE OF THE RESEARCH STUDY
1.7 RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY
1.8 DEFINITIONS OF KEY THEORETICAL CONCEPTS
1.9 DEMARCATION OF THE STUDY
1.10 CHAPTER LAYOUT
1.11 CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED IN THIS STUDY
1.12 SUMMARY
CHAPTER 2: THE CRIME PREVENTION ROLE OF THE MILITARY POLICE IN SELECTED DEFENCE FORCES
2.1 INTRODUCTION
2.2 OVERVIEW OF CRIME PREVENTION
2.3 AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE CRIME PREVENTION ROLE OF MILITARY POLICE IN SELECTED DEFENCE FORCES
2.4 CRIME PREVENTION ROLE OF THE MILITARY POLICE IN SELECTED AFRICAN DEFENCE FORCES BEYOND THE SADC REGION
2.5 SUMMARY
CHAPTER 3: THE RELEVANCE OF GENERAL CRIME PREVENTION FORMS AND MODELS IN DEFENCE FORCES
3.1 INTRODUCTION
3.2 CRIME PREVENTION MODELS
3.3 CRIME PREVENTION THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN (CPTED)
3.4 SOCIAL CRIME PREVENTION
3.5 EFFECTIVE CRIMINAL JUSTICE
3.6 SUMMARY
CHAPTER 4: THE CRIME PREVENTION ROLE OF THE MILITARY POLICE DIVISION IN THE SANDF
4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2 CRIME PREVENTION ROLE OF THE MILITARY POLICE DIVISION IN THE SANDF
4.3 CRIME PREVENTION ROLE PLAYERS IN THE SANDF
4.4 A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE MILITARY POLICE DIVISION STRUCTURE
4.5 SANDF CRIME STATISTICS
4.6 SUMMARY
CHAPTER 5: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
5.1 INTRODUCTION
5.2 RESEARCH APPROACH
5.3 RESEARCH DESIGN
5.4 RESEARCH POPULATION AND SAMPLING
5.5 METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION
5.6 DATA ANALYSIS
5.7 METHODS USED TO ENSURE TRUSTWORTHINESS 1
5.8 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
5.9 SUMMARY
CHAPTER 6: PRESENTATION OF THE RESEARCH FINDINGS
6.1 INTRODUCTION
6.2 BIOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION
6.3 EMERGING THEMES
6.4 SUMMARY
CHAPTER 7: THE INTERPRETATION OF THE FINDINGS
7.1 INTRODUCTION
7.2 THE CONSTITUTIONAL MANDATE OF THE SANDF
7.3 MILITARY POLICE TRAINING
7.4 THE NATURE OF CRIME IN THE SANDF
7.5 LACK OF RESOURCES
7.6 REJUVENATION
7.7 SUMMARY
CHAPTER 8: RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION
8.1 INTRODUCTION
8.2 RECOMMENDATIONS
8.3 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
8.4 CONCLUSION
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A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE CRIME PREVENTION ROLE OF THE MILITARY POLICE DIVISION IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL DEFENCE FORCE (SANDF)
