A comparative analysis of the quality of Community Police Forums in local Cato Manor & Glenwood communities, South Africa

Abstract

Policing multiracial communities represents an important and contemporary challenge for police, since culturally diversified local environments raise many social and organisational issues regarding community relationships, problem-solving and ensuring safety and security. Furthermore, the quality of community policing in local communities is an important research topic in the fields of criminological and police studies and requires special competencies. The estimation of the quality of police work gives an insight into which extent the strategic goals of police organisations are met and what the next steps towards improving their efficiency and legitimacy are. The purpose of this paper is to compare the results of Community Policing Forums (CPFs) in Cato Manor Township and Glenwood Suburb, Durban, South Africa. This was done by exploring the quality of Community Policing (CP), especially CPFs from different perspectives, which included community leaders, business and general community. A qualitative research approach was adopted, to explore such perspectives in the study areas. The findings collected through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with the South African Police Services personnel, Community Police Forums` members and general community members discovered differences between perceptions of police work and CPFs between the township area and the suburban area. Overall, the findings indicate that members of the suburban community perceive problems regarding disorder and crime as more severe than the township one, while members of the township setting express more satisfaction with police and CPF work in general.