Perceptions of the role and function of the Venda police
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Date
1995
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Publisher
University of Zululand
Abstract
The police role appears to be a controversial issue since the evolution of modem policing in Great Britain with the establishment of the Metropolitan Police under the leadership of Sir Robert Peel in 1829. The South African Police Service. and in particular the erstwhile Venda police. are no exceptions to the rule. The primary aim of this investigation revolves around the statistical measurement of the perceptions and attitudes of respondents pertaining to the role and functions of the Venda police. For this purpose. a sample group of 406 respondents. Arbitrarily selected from four areas. namely : Thohoyandou, Makwarela, Sibasa and Shayandirna, were subjected to a closed. structured questionnaire regarding various aspects of the role and operational function of this independent police force. Statistical tests, such as the F-test, were implemented to test for significance and reliability of data obtained from questionnaires. The statistical results only represent the perceptions and attitudes of the research group towards the Venda police.
The findings indicate:
• that the majority of the respondents perceive the role and function of the Venda police as an important social service;
• that both male and female respondents have significant different perceptions of the police role as it relates to the operational rendering of this social service function;
•. insignificant differences between the various educational qualification groups pertaining to police partiality. abuse of power and authority, lack of knowledge and imperiousness on the part of the police are observed;
• an unwillingness among the sample group to report crime to the police due to, inter alia. the inability of the police to effectively solve criminal cases, an arrogant attitude among police officials. etc.; and
• that in general. the global image of the Venda police is somewhat negatively evaluated by the total research group.
Recommendations are as follows:
• the cultivation of a better understanding of the police role by means of facilitating closer contact and co-operation with the public;
• to provide an improved social service to the public by means of rapid responses to calls for assistance and complaints;
• establishing a police-citizen partnership in crime prevention by means of implementing a community style of policing;
• improving the educational qualifications and training procedures of policemen.
Description
Submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree Mater of Arts in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 1995.
Keywords
Police and policing -- South Africa