In the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of Derek Chauvin and the subsequent protests around it, especially those with calls to defund the police, it is prudent in calmer times to consider exactly what activists were fighting for.
We need to look at what these aims were, even as they defined their struggle in the most unfortunate and divisive way, and glean what lessons South Africa can take from it and apply to policing in our country.
Let’s deal first with the phrase ’defund the police’ which would have been better termed ‘restructuring the police’. In a substantive sense that is exactly what activists were calling for. They were calling for an end to ‘qualified immunity,’ a legal principle in the United States that grants government officials (like police) immunity from civil suits when performing discretionary functions. Suits are only allowed where officials clearly violated a ’clearly established’ statutory or constitutional right. This definition, however, has been stretched to shield police from accountability.
Consider, for example, the case of a police officer who shot a 10-year-old child while trying to shoot a non-threatening family dog. The Eleventh Circuit US Court of Appeals held that the officer was entitled to qualified immunity because no earlier case held it was unconstitutional for a police officer to recklessly fire his gun into a group of children without justification. The Court also declined to establish that rule. Not only was the officer let off the hook in that case, but the very same officer could act the same way again and would still be entitled to qualified immunity. Qualified immunity is a clear abdication of accountability for those who are given power by the state.
Activists are also arguing for a demilitarising of the police force and for police training to focus much more on conflict de-escalation. These are all reasonable measures to ensure that a function of government vested with violent power can be accountable and circumspect when it comes to protecting all human life. Another aspect activists asked for was a redirection of some resources towards community services, so that police are not first responders to issues dealing with mental health and community breakdown. This makes sense for both communities and police. The more dangerous a community is, the more likely police are to be on edge and the more likely they are to use deadly force, especially where there are mental health issues involved or suspects are under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
In South Africa specifically, when adjusting for population size, SAPS is twice as lethal as police in the US. At the same time, police officers in this country are six times more likely to die in the line of duty. This is important to mention if we are to avoid the binary thinking that permeates the US on police violence. Police officers are people too, with friends and family who love them and care for their well-being and lives. In a very violent society like South Africa this is especially pertinent, otherwise we might end up with a situation where Minister Cele encourages wanton, militaristic violence even as protestors and activists demonise the police service itself. This means any solutions should be aimed at not just making communities safer and healthier (linking police and community services) but also increasing accountability for police.
There are a number of measures which can be taken to ensure this.
Firstly, policing for major Metros should be devolved, with the caveat that a municipality must have three clean audits in the previous three years for the process of devolution to be initiated. This would prevent more money flowing to irresponsible and corrupt municipalities. This devolution is important because it allows municipalities to co-ordinate community and police services to better serve the people, for example, in the Cape Flats with its gang problems. Policing works better when it is seen as a constituent part of a safer metro, along with jobs, housing, mental health services and good service delivery. Expecting police to be the be-all and end-all for remedying broken communities is what has led to so much of the wanton police violence in the US. This devolution should happen alongside more robust training at police academies, where officers can earn qualifications and higher pay and the respect and status within communities, with a solid middle-class job.
This should be complemented by a civilian-led accountability board that is advised by experienced attorneys. It makes no sense to have police investigate and adjudicate rogue policing. Police will be far less likely to act unlawfully towards the public – especially the vulnerable – if they know they will face a civilian accountability board and could lose their jobs at worst, or be docked a significant portion of their income at least, if found to be in contravention of their duties. This is important, especially in light of reports of police attitudes in this country towards rape and domestic violence victims. Developing a database of criminality similar to the CODIS system used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the US should be considered. CODIS is a national DNA database and a South African equivalent would greatly help the police do their jobs efficiently. (An example would be ensuring that rape kits are tested.)
In counties in the US, where hundreds of thousands of rape kits were tested and cross-referenced with the CODIS database, police were able to make arrests and garner a higher rate of convictions for rape. This was due to the fact that the rape kits showed that rapists tend to be criminal generalists – they steal your goods and steal sex, so to speak, as well as being generally disposed towards crime. The tests also revealed that some people tended to be serial rapists, so even though getting a rape conviction is hard in a court of law, showing a pattern would surely strengthen the case for putting away rapists who are guilty of other crimes.
In short, accountability and training are absolutely essential for an effective police force. At the same time police services must be linked to broader community services which promote healthy and functioning communities. We need brave activists and lawmakers in South Africa if we are going to have a healthy society where the rule of law is entrenched.
The views of the writer do not necessarily reflect the views of the Daily Friend or the IRR