Dear POLSA Member,

POLSA hope this year will bring lots of opportunity to learn and develop. May 2000 be the beginning of real safety and security for South Africa.

Some of the notable events of 1999 were the resignations of Commissioner Fivaz and Meyer Khan. We salute them for their contributions towards transformation of the SAPS and attempts to make it more effective and efficient. We therefor congratulate Minister Tshwete and Commissioner Selebi with their appointments and wish them well for 2000 and beyond. POLSA, although critical of what they do and how they do it will support them. South Africa needs safety and security for development and growth.

Praetor is available on the Internet at: http://www.servamus.co.za/praetor1.htm

Articles published in 1999 Bulletins will be referenced on page 6.

Please note that those members in the Gauteng area are invited to the Colloquium at the Detective Academy on 21 January at 10:00.  The theme is "Training Approaches in the Year 2000". Speakers will be from RAU, TSA, Unisa and the SAPS. Newly appointed Divisional Commissioner for Training, Commissioner Ferreira will be addressing the Colloquium too.

Please bring along a non-member for R30-00 only.

RSVP: Kotie Nienaber

Tel: 012-429 6808.

REPORT ON CRIME PREVENTION IN THE NORTHERN CAPE

Dr Rika Snyman: TSA

A crime prevention conference, with a focus on the Northern Cape, was held in Kimberley on 8 and 9 November 1999. The conference was well attended as 150 delegates, representing the SAPS, Justice, Correctional Services, businesses, the Agricultural Union, local government, Welfare, Education and the Defense Force, attended. The Premier, Mr Manne Dipico opened the conference and the MEC for Community Safety and Liaison, Mr Wyngaardt attended the whole conference.

Prof Irvin Waller from Canada delivered the keynote presentation and spoke on international crime prevention strategies. The theme of his presentation was "tough on causes rather than tough on crime". He is of the opinion that strategies and processes can be transferred across countries and that the most important partners in crime prevention are the community and service providers, rather than the criminal justice system. Five points are identified internationally:

§ The crime rate has steadily increased over the last 40 years to three times what it was
§ Crime is expensive for victims and communities (US$ 1400 per single crime)
§ The causes of crime need to be established scientifically
§ If the causes of crime are addressed, crime is dramatically reduced.

He identified four categories of crime causes:

§ Social development (disparity in income, youth hopelessness)
§ Cultural disposition (culture of violence)
§ Community design (protection property, easy access to firearms, alcohol and drugs)
§ Limits to enforcement and accountability

He emphasised the need to invest crime prevention money wisely, as criminal justice measures are expensive and not very effective. Diversion is more affordable and effective. He provided a layout of the crime prevention structure in New Zealand and illustrated how this model can be adapted and applied to the Northern Cape.

Various prominent speakers presented papers:

§ Adv. Percy Sonn: Combatting Organised Crime: Challenges for the new millennium
§ Ms Mbali Nqadi from the NCPS: General Overview of the work of the NCPS
§ Adv. J Swanepoel (OSEO): Economic offenses: Challenges for the new millennium
§ Judge E Lichtenberg: The role of the judiciary in crime prevention.
§ Comm Andre Pruis: SAPS crime prevention strategies
§ Mr Chris du Toit (SAAU): Strategies for rural safety
§ Mr Theuns Kruger and Eric Pelser: Neighbourhood crime prevention and community-based crime prevention strategies

I was invited by the organising committee to present a paper at the conference held in Kimberley on 8 and 9 November 1999. The topic of my paper was: Social Fabric Crime in the Northern Cape. The paper gave an overview of the research results of a research project conducted in the Northern Cape.

I identified priorities for crime prevention in the Northern Cape, namely at-risk families, youth-at-risk, misuse/abuse of alcohol and drugs, and women and children. The need to address causes rather than repressing crime was a focus of the presentation and I emphasised the dangers of introducing "feel-good" programmes which are ineffective and the tendency to identify one aspect, in this case alcohol, as the main preventative factor. The fact that alcohol mis/abuse is a trigger rather than a causative factor, provided major insight into the prevention of social fabric crime.

One negative aspect of the conference was that two of the speakers presented a narrow and archaic approach to crime prevention that was contrary to the spirit of the conference. This however elicited such intense responses that the conference delegates recognised the vastly different opinions and focused on the accepted approach, namely a focus on "tough on causes" rather than "a war against crime".

I identified a need for intersectoral and interdepartmental training on crime prevention in the Northern Cape and the leaders in the different interest fields acknowledged this need.

WESTERN CAPE PROVINCIAL SUMMIT ON ALCOHOL ABUSE

Dr. Rika Snyman, Chief Lecturer Policing: Technikon Southern Africa

I was invited by the Dept. of Community Safety in the Western Cape to attend a summit on 16 November 1999 in Durbanville on alcohol abuse. Her interest in the workshop was to gain knowledge on best practices in programmes that focus on alcohol abuse, for implementation in the Northern Cape. The research conducted in the Northern Cape on social fabric crimes indicated that alcohol abuse is a major trigger factor.

Mr Mark Wiley, the Minister responsible for Community Safety in the Western Cape, delivered the keynote address. He emphasised the need to develop a comprehensive and coordinated plan to address alcohol abuse as South Africa is faced with a growing problem of substance abuse. "Alcohol is a known major cause of crime, poverty, reduced productivity, unemployment, dysfunctional family life, political instability, the escalation of chronic diseases such as AIDS and TB, injury and premature death. Its sphere reaches across social, racial, cultural, language, religious and gender barriers. This directly and indirectly affects every one in society." He further stated that worldwide studies indicate that alcohol abuse not only causes the most harm in society but also generates the most police activity.

Interesting statistics:

§ There are 23 000 licensed liquor outlets in South Africa.
§ There are 200 000 informal unlicensed liquor outlets in the country.
§ The wine industry in the Western Cape directly employs 50 000 persons that support 250 000 dependents.
§ At Tygerberg hospital 80% of assault victims are under the influence of alcohol or were injured in alcohol-related violence.
§ 50% of drowning victims were over the legal BAC (blood alcohol content) limit.
§ In 1996 financial terms alcohol abuse accounts for 2 - 6% of the Gross National Product. In South African terms it translates into between R 10.6 - 31.8 billion.

The delegates represented all the relevant interest groups (Education, Health, Tavern associations, Justice, SAPS, Welfare and CPF representatives). The meeting divided into three working groups, namely:

§ Liquor outlets/dispensers
§ Education and awareness, especially amongst the youth
§ Drinking and driving

She attended the working group on education and awareness, especially amongst the youth.

Valuable information was distributed during the workshop in the form of a workbook. Documents included in the workbook are:

§ The Liquor Act of 1989 (and comments on the proposed new act)
§ Alcohol: a comparison of models of enforcement
§ Enforcing driving under the influence of drugs laws with the drug evaluation and classification program
§ Alcohol abuse and crime in the Western Cape: a provincial action plan
§ Legislative reforms in South Australia relating to the misuse of alcohol
§ The National Drug Master Plan.

List of the articles published in Part 2 of the Bulletin during 1999:

Bulletin 1/1999

Beroepsgesondheid en Veiligheid as 'n aktiwiteit binne die Risikobeheerfunksie: 'n Veranderingskonsep - G le Roux

Bulletin 2/1999

Research Questions - prof JH Prinsloo
Report on Safety and Security - prof CW Marais
Motivation and the Police Manager - D Govender

Bulletin 3/1999

Ethical Considerations for a New Public Service in the RSA: Strategies and Structures - TJ Mofomme
Police Ethics Training: A Three-tiered Approach - FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin
Further reading on ethics

Bulletin 4/1999

The present status of community policing - prof BF Smit
Leadership in policing: experiential techniques - D Cirillo, FJ Reynecke & T Engelbrecht
Police heterosexism and homophobia: the Langemaat case - M de Beer

'SA ministers disregard human rights'

1999/11/07: Sunday Times

THE Minister of Law and Order, Steve Tshwete, was in attack mode again this week, sniping at targets he should be protecting human rights watchdog bodies and, by implication, both the Bill of Rights and the Constitution itself.

Speaking at the launch of a programme to train police in human rights, he complained that these watchdogs as villains pilloried them with no respect for human rights. Instead of scrutinising how police arrested suspects, he said, these watchdogs ought to be baying at the scoundrels who committed crimes and instructing them on the rights of their victims.

Victims of crime have a right to expect that perpetrators will be prosecuted, convicted and sentenced. But this right does not stand alone its dependent on, among others, the police. When the police do a sloppy job, they undermine victims' rights.

Take the case of cricketer Makhaya Ntini, recently acquitted on appeal after initially being convicted of rape.

During the hearing, a number of shortcomings in the police investigation became apparent. That the Appeal Court found that his guilt had not been established beyond reasonable doubt must have been at least in part because of poor policing in the case.

If he was, in fact, guilty, then bad police work contributed in part to the denial of the rights of the woman concerned.

When police beat up a suspect to extract a confession, that evidence is likely to be thrown out by the courts and the accused could well be acquitted. Suppose the accused person, now acquitted, was in fact guilty this would be a clear case in which police disrespect for suspects' rights impeded prosecution and thus undermined the victims' rights.

The courts, ultimate watchdogs over all our rights, understand this problem well, and judges have on a number of occasions complained about the way in which the police do their work.

Recently, for example, Judge Dennis Davis refused to accept evidence after convincing allegations by the accused that the police had tortured him. The judge said the police had come to rely too heavily on the single method of confessional policing extracting a confession from the suspect rather than traditional detective work and investigative techniques which squared with the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.

When police used questionable methods to obtain evidence, he said, the courts had to reject that evidence, which often led to the acquittal of dangerous persons. A major campaign was thus needed to ensure that police adopted investigative techniques, which were congruent with civilised and efficient standards of policing, as required by the Constitution.

Human rights watchdogs which try to ensure that police behave properly when arresting or interrogating suspects perform two functions. They monitor whether the accused is treated as befits someone presumed innocent until proven guilty. At the same time, they ascertain whether the police in a way that will stand up in court obtained the evidence against the accused.  In other words, they are watching out for the right of victims and society to see that the guilty are convicted and sentenced.

Previously, the prevalent police culture was one, which regarded human rights as anathema. We therefore welcome the training in human rights they will receive, which will help ensure that they obtain evidence in a way congruent with the Constitution.

During their training, the police will no doubt learn that the Bill of Rights, which encapsulates the rights of everyone in society, is interdependent. It forms a net pull out a thread or two and the integrity of the entire structure is compromised.

As a minister who has sworn to uphold the Constitution, this is something Tshwete ought to know very well. From his recent remarks, however, this seems doubtful. Clearly, he would benefit from joining the police for a crash course in the implications of a human rights culture.

Copyright I-Net Bridge (Pty) Ltd, 1999

Sunday Times: 1999/11/07

The Open Democracy Bill, while opening up access to government information, will also have some ambiguous consequences for the way that journalists go about their work, writes CAROL PATON

CLEARED: The Bill may justify keeping the Land Banks Dolny decision secret.
DISGRACED: Albert Mokoena, former Director-General of Home Affairs.
UNDER FIRE: A whistleblower brought prisons commissioner Khulekani Sitole to media attention
TOWERING INFO: Johannesburg landmark the Hillbrow Tower, from which the SABC transmits its TV signal

Mixed signals

It is expected that the Open Democracy Bill, who is being processed by Parliament, will provide journalists and the public with access to government information in an unprecedented way.

Under the Bill, any person must on request be given access to any government record within certain limits and exemptions. Raymond Louw of the SA National Editors Forum says: The information to which the media would get access is the type of information that departments like to keep secret.

Dene Smuts of the Democratic Party describes the Bill as a big open door. It ought to make a radical difference to the media's access to information.

Its an enlightened approach to government, flowing from our enlightened Constitution, and says citizens have a right to transparency and thus accountability this is relatively new, even to the worlds great democracies.

In South Africa, when giving people the right to government information, the Constitutions framers went one step further and added a further right that of the right to access any information held by another person to exercise or protect any of your rights.

This is unique and the Open Democracy Bill will try to give effect to both these rights.

Its in extending these rights to the private sphere that things start to get complicated for the media, in most cases a private body. But, before entering the uncharted waters of private information, there are also some exemptions on the right to information that make the Bill less than what journalists might have hoped it would be.

Firstly, there are limitations on the kind of information that can be accessed. Individual privacy must be protected as well as information relating to state security, management of the economy or which may harm international relations and agreements. Cabinet documents are also excluded from the provisions of the Bill, as in many countries, and so are records that would expose trade secrets or harm the states financial and commercial operations.

Similar exemptions exist in legislation elsewhere in the world, but, say lobbyists, in this case the exemptions have been so broadly stated that the Bill could close areas that are already open.

An example, says Laura Polecutt of the Freedom of Expression Institute, is information concerning the environment, over which new legislation has established far wider access.

We are really worried about the broad statements and the Bill could close up areas that are already far more open. If another Act has established access, then it should be stated far more clearly that you can use it, Polecutt says.

Other examples, Smuts says, are the provisions around state security, something governments always try to hide behind. The way its drafted, the Cabinet, security police and spy structures can deny information. Its possible that arms deals could not be discussed.

But, in addition to these broad exclusions, its also possible for government bodies to refuse to supply documents containing opinions expressed in confidence about the employment or removal of someone from office.

While this clause aims to prevent confidential employment records from entering the public realm an important consideration it should nonetheless sound warning bells for the media as it is precisely this information that is most sought after and kept most secret.

Take, for instance, the case of the SABC, where a forensic audit is under way to determine whether certain top officials benefited unfairly from commissioning procedures. Given the history of graft at the SABC, anxiety is growing that the report may never see the light of day and the Open Democracy Bill will not help it do so.

The same could be said for the Helena Dolny affair at the Land Bank. A decision by the board to withhold the report, which largely exonerates Dolny and certainly recommends no action against her, may still be justifiable under the Bill.

Polecutt believes that, in the case of a public figure such as Dolny, there are grounds to argue that disclosure is in the public interest and, at least with a freedom-of-information law in hand, there is far more scope to do so.

However, as Smuts points out, there is also another way out in such cases. Government departments or parastatals can also avoid disclosure claiming it would harm their commercial or financial interests.

Ultimately, it would be up to courts to decide cases such as these. Given the constitutional protections for media freedom, they may decide in the media's favour. But the point remains that, for journalists, the Open Democracy door is not as big as expected. Apart from these rather uncertain limitations, the media could also, ironically, find itself on the receiving end of the law once it is applied to the private sphere.

In the case of this right, an individual or group must show that the information they request is needed in order to exercise or protect a right. A good example would be requesting information about salaries to determine whether there is discrimination.

For trade unions, this right could be groundbreaking. The media would also benefit. But, at the same time, it's a right that can be used to extract information from the media if such information is needed for the exercise of a right.

So, an individual, company or Cabinet minister about whom a journalist holds defamatory information could theoretically demand access to such a document.

Its a double-edged sword that has not been properly considered, say those in the forum.

It could, Louw believes, impinge on the media. An individual could demand information on the basis of his rights. From there, the next step would be exposure of sources.

The forum has proposed that the media be exempted to prevent the exposure of sources and the Freedom of Expression Institute agreed that the newsroom should be sacrosanct.

It's an issue that has not yet been decided, as this chapter of the Bill has not been drafted. However, says the ANCs Johnny de Lange, chairman of the committee processing the Bill, it would be a problem to entirely exclude the sources of the media from the Bill.

We cannot exclude the media completely. The right of the media to protect its sources is not an absolute right. We will have to do a balancing act and see to what extent we can exclude the media but allow people to exercise their rights, says De Lange.

If the media's sources are not excluded completely, then the courts will have to look at the question, he says.

In this way, the Open Democracy Bill becomes a vehicle not just to shape the media's access to government information but also to shape the role the media plays in society.

There is another way in which this is done.

The whistleblowing model, which follows the British one, proposes that whistleblowers be protected provided they disclose their information about corruption or misconduct to their head of department or to Parliament, the Public Protector, the Human Rights Commission, the a uditor-general or the attorney-general.

Whistleblowers may also disclose information to the media but only to avert an immediate and serious threat or if they can prove on clear and convincing grounds that public interest outweighed non-disclosure.

This approach regulating disclosure to the media has been used, says De Lange, because problems and corruption are more likely to be addressed if whistleblowers disclose information to forums that will address the sources of the problems rather than splashing it in the media.

We think well gain a lot from this approach. The window for disclosure to the media will be much narrower.

We are not interested in gory stories in the newspapers, we are interested in addressing crime and mismanagement. A person who discloses to the media is unlikely to keep his job anyway, he says.

Most of the media's biggest exposure of government corruption come from whistleblowers. The story of disgraced Home Affairs boss Albert Mokoena and Prisons boss Khulekani Sitole are two recent cases in point.

So will this Bill discourage whistleblowers from going to the media? Polecutt is confident that it won't.

Although there is a tougher test, who is going to determine whether it was in the public interest or not that you went to the media and not your head of department? Proving that something is in the public interest is not very hard to do, she says.

Perhaps, more significantly, the Bill gives the government a weapon to deal with the problem of leaking, which has plagued the ANC administration, putting in a criminal sanction for people who knowingly provide false information.

It will be in the interest of society and the media to filter out this kind of whistleblowing.

But the wheels of government turn slowly and people wanting to lift the lid on things seldom know who to trust. They will need to know that it remains acceptable to disclose to the media, which has a long history of protecting its sources.

A battle still lies ahead to prove the public interest.

Copyright I-Net Bridge (Pty) Ltd, 1999

Mbeki ousts top civil servant for corruption

By Victor Mallet in Johannesburg Financial Times: 1999/11/04

The South African government yesterday sought to strengthen President Thabo Mbeki's much-trumpeted campaign against corruption in the post-apartheid era by forcing the resignation of a senior civil servant found unfit to hold high office by parliament.

But Khulekani Sitole, commissioner responsible for the country's prisons and the latest official to have his misdeeds exposed by the local media, was spared the sack and will go on "special leave" until his resignation goes into effect in three months' time.

Some opposition members of parliament said he should have been dismissed immediately.

Mr Sitole gave himself undeserved bonus payments, wasted money on unnecessary overseas trips, handed jobs to relatives and friends and used government money to fund a scholarship programme in the US named after himself.

He also ran a professional soccer team without permission.

A company that had a contract with the Department of Correctional Services sponsored the team, and most of its players were hired to work at the department.

This was not the first time a top South African civil servant has run a sports team from his office. Albert Mokoena, director-general of home affairs, was dismissed last month after using the department to promote a basketball team, and criminal investigators are now trying to establish how some of the foreign players on the team procured South African identity documents.

Mr Mbeki has repeatedly condemned corruption in his pursuit of an "African Renaissance" aimed at uplifting the continent morally, politically and economically.

When he opened parliament in June, Mr Mbeki spoke of "rooting out corruption and theft", committed the ruling African National Congress to "honest, transparent and accountable government" and reiterated "our determination to act against anybody who transgresses these norms".

But Mr Mbeki and other ANC leaders, blaming South Africa's apartheid history for corrupt practices, have been reluctant to get rid of discredited officials, and typically "redeploy" them to other jobs in parliament, the party, or national or provincial governments.

"Blaming apartheid is too easy," said Tertius Delport, member of parliament for the opposition Democratic party, commenting on Mr Mbeki's speech to an international anti-corruption conference in Durban last month.

Political analysts credit the ANC government for showing greater openness than its National party predecessors, but warn that the end of authoritarian rule and the chaos of the transition to democracy have inevitably created opportunities for corruption.

As in the rest of Africa, corruption discourages foreign investors and restricts economic growth.

"The need is therefore all the more urgent to develop new anti-corruption mechanisms under the emerging democratic order," wrote Chris Heymans and Barbara Lipietz in a study of corruption for the Institute of Security Studies.

Provincial governments - especially in areas where there were once corruptly run ethnic "homeland" governments established under apartheid - have been frequently hit by corruption scandals.

Last week, Nico Krugel, former financial director of the Mpumalanga Parks Board, was found guilty on 20 charges of fraud and embezzlement, after he had used taxpayers' money for himself and to fund ANC campaigns.

The police force, whose officers are supposed to arrest corrupt officials, is also riddled with graft, although special units have been formed across the country to tackle the problem.

"Some police officers have been arrested for receiving bribes, in very, very serious crimes, to let the person off the hook," George Fivaz, police commissioner, said this week.

"Some police officers are stealing state property, some are involving themselves in armed robberies with service pistols."

A special anti-corruption unit headed by Judge Willem Heath, with just 55 investigators, is examining 220,000 cases of fraud and negligence nationwide, ranging from the misuse of housing subsidies to multi-million-rand thefts.

But the procedures authorising Judge Heath's unit to act in each new case is cumbersome and slow and government ministers have said they want to clip his wings and confine his investigations to the Eastern Cape, where his mandate began.

"It seems we have a developed a culture of dishonesty in this country," Judge Heath told lawyers in Johannesburg recently. "And people continue their actions because they know they can get away with it."

Copyright I-Net Bridge (Pty) Ltd, 1999

More police for Empangeni after 11 killed in ongoing taxi feud

Ranjeni Munusamy: Sunday Times: 1999/11/07

ABOUT 200 additional security personnel are to be deployed in Empangeni in northern KwaZulu-Natal after this week's gun battle between rival taxi associations left 11 dead and 17 injured.

KwaZulu-Natal Transport MEC Sbu Ndebele held talks with Safety and Security Minister Steve Tshwete on Friday and asked for more police to be sent to the area.

Thirteen men who allegedly took part in the 15-minute shoot-out have been arrested. Police spokesman Director Bala Naidoo said the men would be charged with murder and attempted murder when they appear in court tomorrow.

Ndebele ordered that the rank be shut and banned all taxi operations between Esikhawini township and Empangeni.

Thousands of commuters were left stranded, even though bus services were stepped up.

Education department spokesman Mandla Msibi said the suspension of taxi services had not affected the writing of matric exams as the community had rallied to ferry pupils to school.

The massacre was the culmination of a long-standing feud between the A-Rank Taxi Association and the Esikhawini Association over the lucrative taxi route between the township and the town.

Ndebele and officials of his department held talks with the leaders of the two groups yesterday.

The response from the associations has been positive. Nineteen associations operate from the rank, but only two of them are in dispute. The others are anxious to resolve the matter and resume normal operations, Ndebele said.

We will re-open the rank once the situation has stabilised. No business is more important than human lives, he said.

Tshwetes spokesman, Andre Martins, said security personnel from various areas in the province had been sent to the town immediately after the shooting.

Copyright I-Net Bridge (Pty) Ltd, 1999

Adele Campbell, Sapa on Car guards

Car guards: love them or loath them Car guards are everywhere and they have eyesight superior to hawks. Some people try to dodge them, while others accept the gesture of having their vehicles guarded

So you've put in your time at the office, paid your bills, taxes and exorbitant insurance premiums outsmarted the criminals and now you're ready to descend on the suburban shopping malls to obliterate what's left of your meagre cash reserves.

You put in place your gear, gorilla or homemade lock immobilise your vehicle and activate the alarm.

Momentarily you bask in a false sense of bliss that somehow everything is fine - the kind of euphoria that comes from going shopping.

But a quick glance from the corner of your eye reveals the stark reality facing millions of South African shoppers.

Barely have you opened your car door and there he or she is hovering with their little slips of paper offering to look after your car for a small voluntary donation.

Car guards are everywhere and they have eyesight superior to hawks.

Some people try to dodge them, darting into the labyrinth of shops.

Others tell them where to get off, while other good-natured folk accept the gesture of having their vehicles guarded.

These people form part of the huge ranks of the unemployed and they eke out a living capitalising on the soaring car theft rates.

According to figures supplied by the Crime Information Analysis Centre of the SA Police Services, 107,513 motor vehicles (including motorcycles) were reported stolen nationally in 1998.

More than half of these vehicles - 55 031 - were stolen in Gauteng.

KwaZulu-Natal ranked second with 19,151 reported stolen.

Theft levels in the Western Cape came in third at 11,838 vehicles stolen.

The centre does not have statistics of vehicles recovered, according to Lulu Seabi.

The Security Officer's Board (SOB) is a statutory body that regulates the booming security industry.

Among other things the board tries to control the exploitation of security guards. They have over 150,000 security guards registered with them.

While many operators and guards in this emerging industry are registered with the board to operate legally, many lone rangers function informally.

These guards are pervasive in all spheres of bustling city life - from a smiling vagrant guiding a motorist to any vacant space, to slick competitive entrepreneurs running well-managed operations at malls.

Shopping centre management has different policies on how they deal with the issue of car guards.

Valentine, a dapper car guard at The Glen - a trendy mall in the hilly area of Oakdene, south of Johannesburg - could have passed for the patron saint of car watchers.

Donning black trousers, black shoes, a blue shirt, tie and yellow cap, as well as holding an umbrella to fend off the searing heat, he had the charm of 007.

After an hour-long spending spree, he immediately pointed out my car and got a well-deserved tip.

Two other customers pushed coins into his hand at around the same time, which Valentine gratefully accepted while removing their grocery trolleys.

Alert Vehicle Security manages the car guards at The Glen, which has about 2,400 outdoor parking bays.

According to directors Jacques Venter and Allan Holmes, they are offering consumers a professional service.

They are registered with the SOB as are the guards that work for them.

"The guards are extra eyes in the parking areas. People don't realise how big the car theft problem is," says Holmes.

In existence for two years, Alert works hand-in-hand with centre management and contracted security guards.

The company, which employs men across the colour spectrum, guards the parking sites of other centres in Gauteng, including the Sun Dome Casino, north of Johannesburg.

Venter and Holmes, who have undergone military training, say roll call is taken every morning at 7am when the car guards report for duty. Strict discipline is maintained at all times.

The company keeps records of all the guards and hold ongoing training programmes.

Holmes says they are trained not to harass shoppers.

The car watchers are paid around R1800 a month and are given incentives.

They are encouraged to hand in their tips at the end of the day, which is used to subsidise guards who do not make much money.

Alert make its profits from the balance - after deducting the cost of uniforms, security equipment and printing costs.

The guards have the option of medical aid and pension from a private company if they choose.

Venter and Holmes say most customers seem to be positive about the guards.

They give the guards incentives for honesty.

Venter cited a recent example when four men wanting to steal a car at The Glen offered a guard a R200 bribe. The guard however reported the matter and the police were called. He was rewarded with R200.

Guards have to keep a record of the vehicles they watch.

They, for example, note details like windows left open, keys left in cars and alarms set off.

Regular meetings are held with centre management and the local police.

Of illicit operators Venter says: "Stuff like that gives us a bad name. We're not the employers of people without a job. We keep records and train these people to be professionals."

Holmes and Venter say it takes time for customers to get used to the guards and they often form relationships with them.

In contrast to The Glen, centre management at the massive Eastgate shopping centre, east of Johannesburg, has decided not to place the burden of tipping car guards on to customers.

Operations Manager, Philip van Dyk says about four to five cars are reported stolen from Eastgate per month.

Contract security guards keep an eye on the approximate 4,300 open-air bays.

Gerhard Geldenhuys, acting general manager of Cresta centre, north of Johannesburg, says the presence of car guards has drastically reduced the rate of car thefts over the past two years.

The same company provides guards both inside the mall and in the approximate 3,500 outdoor parking bays.

In 1997, about 10 to 12 cars were stolen every month, while this year only five have been reported stolen, Geldenhuys says.

The centre trains the guards periodically on customer service.

They carry batons, which have proved to be a good deterrent, according to Geldenhuys.

Guards are identifiable by nametags. The slips of paper were done away with after shoppers complained.

Geldenhuys says the car watchers at Cresta rely entirely on donations from shoppers for their livelihood.

"I really don't mind the car watchers," said a customer at Cresta. "If they are helpful, I'll give them some money."

Copyright I-Net Bridge (Pty) Ltd, 1999

Sharp rise in jailbreaks in September, October worries state

1999/11/09: Business Day 1st Ed

SECURITY at SAs prisons will be stepped up sharply next year as the Department of Correctional Services strives to achieve its target of zero escapes.

The first steps were taken at Pollsmoor Prison last Friday at a day-long workshop on escape by Correctional Services Minister Ben Skosana, provincial correctional services representatives and police management.

Andrew Aphane, spokesman for Skosana, said the minister was perturbed by the recent spate of escapes and would hold workshops in all nine provinces to tighten up security.

Escapes have been declining for the past four years. In 1995, there were 1247 escapes out of a prison population of 110069; in 1996, 1345 prisoners, out of a prison population of 118731, escaped; in 1997, 1050 prisoners (population 135000) escaped. Last year, there were only 497 escapes from a prison population of 144000.

The downward trend continued this year until September and October, when there was a sharp rise in escapes, with prisoners using all types of tools, including angle grinders, smuggled into prisons for their escapes. With a prison population this year of 157575, there were 39 escapes in January, 34 in February, 48 in March, 18 in April, 34 in May, 44 in June, 25 in July, 31 in August and 57 in September.

The October statistics, still to be ratified, are expected to be over 60 because of the mass jailbreak in Empangeni in which 31 prisoners escaped.

Prison authorities are investigating allegations of corruption against staff members and say the main reasons for the escapes are:

· Staff negligence;
· Insufficient electronic aids;
· The poor condition of building structures;
· Insufficient security fences and lighting;
· The detention of more hardened and dangerous prisoners;
· Overpopulation, which hampers supervision, control, searching and security;
· Old and obsolete prisons; and
· National staff shortages of more than 6000 members.

The department says it is trying to limit the number of escapes, but that this is not easy as prison authorities are regularly confronted with daring, ingenious and desperate escapes.

To combat escapes, various measures have been introduced. They include:

· The optional use of existing security aids and equipment;
· Continual evaluation of security services;
· Staff training;
· Preventing unauthorised articles from being taken into jails;
· Disciplinary action against negligent staff;
· Warning prisoners about the consequences of escapes;
· The prosecution of escapees and those who assist them;
· Rewarding prisoners who report or warn of planned escapes;
· Regular inspections of prisons; and
· Installation of electronic fences and X-ray scanners in high-risk prisons.

The department says it has erected electronic fences at 19 prisons around the country at a cost of R36m.

The department says its ideal is zero escapes, but the number of escapes must be seen against the background of a turnover of over 500000 prisoners a year and a daily prison population of more that 156000.

Of the escapes, about 30% were from prison, with the rest from work teams outside prison, at hospitals and during escorts.

There is no prison that can be singled out for having the highest number of escapes.

Even petty crime offenders escape from time to time, officials say.

Several staff members have been suspended in connection with escapes.

Most departmental disciplinary hearings relate to negligence, not aiding the escapes.

However, if after investigation, the actions of a staff member point to criminal activities, such as aiding and abetting, the matter is referred to the police and the law takes its course. Employees found guilty of a criminal offence related to an escape are dismissed.

Copyright I-Net Bridge (Pty) Ltd, 1999

Breaking the cycle of violence

1999/11/09: Financial Times

Ten years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the European Union may at last be redeeming its promise to admit former Communist states to membership.

The enlargement strategy proposed by Romano Prodi's European Commission is well conceived and far-sighted. Its key feature is that all the candidate countries meeting the political criteria are to be allowed to assemble at the starting line, but their progress will depend on their own performance.

Enlargement will increase the economic strength of the EU, enhance its security, and, paradoxically, strengthen its political structure by hastening much needed institutional reforms. The Commission's accession strategy deserves enthusiastic support.

Whether it will be able to overcome the objections of individual member countries is another matter.

The requirements of membership are onerous and the decision must be unanimous; this gives member countries ample scope to protect their special interests.

The European Union is prepared to conclude negotiations with candidate countries by 2002. Until now, candidate countries were treated as a group: the same set of subjects ("chapters" in Eurospeak) was opened up for negotiations with each candidate.

From now on, the chapters to be negotiated with individual candidates will vary according to their state of preparation and all chapters already provisionally closed are to be reopened.

This will create a genuine race and ensure that candidates do their best to meet the criteria. Varying the chapters opened for negotiations would also provide ample notice of where deficiencies lay.

One of the main merits of the Commission's accession strategy is that it forces the EU to confront the structural challenges raised by enlargement - such as the thorny issue of majority voting.

With 13 candidates knocking at the door and additional ones appearing on the horizon, member countries cannot tarry. Fortunately, a report on EU reform commissioned by Mr Prodi from three "wise men" - Jean-Luc Dehaene, the former Belgian prime minister; Lord Simon, a former UK minister; and Richard von Weizsa{"}cker, former German president - has come up with some far-reaching proposals on how to deal with these issues. The "wise men" urged the EU to have reforms in place before 2002, and that is sensible.

The key to Europe's security lies largely beyond its borders. Up to a point its security could be enhanced by enlargement. But many of the countries that matter are far from qualifying as candidates for membership.

This is particularly true for the western Balkans, but it also applies to countries to the east and south of the EU. With regard to these countries, the EU cannot base its policy on accession because they cannot yet be expected to deliver on the reciprocal obligations that accession requires. While holding out the prospect of eventual membership, the EU must take a more one-sided approach, providing assistance to ensure these countries eventually qualify.

With regard to the Balkans, the international community now recognises it cannot go on reacting to crises; it must take a preventive approach. It was this idea that gave rise to the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe.

But the pact is only an empty framework; the EU must put something real on the table. It must offer access to the European single market, assistance in establishing the rule of law and building efficient administrations. This would create the conditions that would attract private capital, foster economic growth and help countries qualify for accession.

The Balkan crisis is not over. Slobodan Milosevic is still in power in Yugoslavia; Kosovo has not been pacified; tension is rising in Montenegro. Only holding out can reverse the process of disintegration the prospect of integration with Europe. Only by building democratic, open societies in which borders and governments diminish in importance can the vicious circle of violence be broken.

If the European Union follows this approach, Mr Milosevic cannot survive in power and NATO intervention will be crowned by success.

This idea will require a plan of action that goes beyond the competence of the Commissioner for Enlargement. It needs to be spelled out by Mr Prodi and endorsed by the European Council at the Helsinki summit in December.

The author is chairman of Soros Fund Management. Copyright I-Net Bridge (Pty) Ltd, 1999

Top security firm looks to spread protective wings further

Nicola Jenvey: Business Day 1st Ed: 1999/11/09

DURBAN Security services group Gray Securities is finalising negotiations with a top forensic investigations company which should provide clients with additional services and add value to the group.

Releasing the maiden results in the year to August, Chairman Richard Aubin said he was confident of sound organic growth in the current year.

During its first year of listing, Gray acquired the UK-based Imperial Security Services and the US-based Crime Prevention Security. These companies are expected to add to profits in the current financial year.

The group operates in SA, the UK, the US, Tanzania, Mozambique, Angola, Malawi, Uganda, Namibia, Lesotho and Mauritius and is pursuing further options in North America, Eastern Europe and Australasia.

CEO David Plane said there were new opportunities in the mining and petrochemical fields and that countries identified included Ghana, Nigeria, Botswana, Zambia and Kenya.

Locally, demand for premium quality security services continued to grow, Plane said. Mining and petrochemicals generally showed good potential. New niche areas included the gaming and leisure industry following the awarding of casino licenses and the establishment of entertainment complexes around the country.

Another opportunity was in the revenue protection sector, where Gray was assisting municipalities and provincial governments in revenue collection.

Aubin said Gray was generating cash and that the group tended not to consider acquisitions that could not be financed from cash. The company presently employs and manages 16000 staff worldwide.

Attributable income rose to R21,1m from R4,9m in the year under review, strengthened by organic growth. Headline earnings increased to 15c (1998: 5c) on a substantially higher number of shares in issue. A 4,5c (nil) maiden dividend was declared.

Turnover grew 43% to R532m, while operating income leapt 38% to R41,4m.

Gray wrote off most of the goodwill and trademarks carried in the balance sheet against share premium.

Copyright I-Net Bridge (Pty) Ltd, 1999

TUNICA DEPUTY GETS 30-YEAR SENTENCE

11 Nov 1999: Source: Commercial Appeal (TN) - Bartholomew Sullivan

Copyright: 1999 The Commercial Appeal

The former chief deputy of the Tunica County Sheriff's Department was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in a federal prison for extorting payoffs to protect drug dealers.

Willie Lee Starks, known on the streets as 'Cat Daddy' had nothing to say before U.S. Dist. Judge L.T. Senter, Jr imposed the sentence after telling Starks he was a " disgrace to Tunica County,the State of Mississippi, and the United States of America." according to those in the Aberdeen courtroom.

Starks, 48, cut short an Oxford jury trial and pleaded guilty Aug. 4 after several witnesses testified against him.

The government had intended to introduce audio tapes of Starks' conversations with confidential informants in which he agreed to stand watch outside a Tunica hotel while a purported drug transaction went on inside.

Transcripts of those conversations, laced with profanity, indicate Starks was initially reluctant to handle the surveillance and said his price for service would increase if the deal turned violent.

Also at the truncated trial, former sheriff John J. Pickett III testified he split a payoff with Starks from the wife of a man who wanted to get out of jail. The man was quickly re-arrested.

Pickett resigned his office, dropped re-election plans and pleaded guilty March 1 to a single count of extorting payoffs from a bail bondsman. Government lawyers said they could have proved Pickett took more than $80,000 in the illegal shakedown scheme. U.S. Dist. Judge Neal B. Biggers Jr. sentenced him on Sept.3 to 20 months in federal prison.

Starks pleaded guilty to conspiring to extort payoffs and extortion after calling off the trial in August. Senter imposed 15-year sentences on each count and said they would run consecutively for a total of 30 years. Starks will not be eligible for parole.

The sentencing brings to an apparent end a lengthy state-federal investigation into corruption within the Sheriff's Department that federal authorities code named "Delta Heat. "It netted three of the department's top officers and a network of drug dealers.

David T. Stark & Alpha Phi Sigma on restorative justice.

As I understand RJ, the major purpose of contact between perpetrators, victims, and the criminal justice system is to facilitate making the victim whole by using the power of the government to compel the perpetrator to make restitution. I'm sure most listmembers are aware that the police exercise a great deal of discretion in performing their enforcement duties.

Individualized policing of person-to-person offenses lends itself well to a restorative style of operation, and the police could effectively "screen out" many offenses from entering the system if they successfully applied RJ techniques.

However, in the American form of adversarial justice, criminal prosecutions are entered into on behalf of an entire community or even the whole nation. Cases are titled "People of the State of New York vs. ..." or "United States vs. ...", indicating that everyone has standing in the case and is entitled to "justice" from the perpetrator. How is RJ an acceptable form of "justice for all" in this context?

How do the RJ advocates deal with the potential Constitutional issues of individualized restorative justice? Is informal, individual justice applied at the street level constitutional? What are the implications for the accused offender's rights to representation, a speedy trial, trial by a jury of peers, and all the other things that won't happen under street-level Restorative Justice? Have we Americans painted ourselves into a corner where the only "lawful" remedy for crime is activation of the full criminal justice system in each case?

Maybe the street-level idea is not what RJ proponents intend. If your discussion so far has been limited to post-conviction RJ, then what do you think about pre-arrest RJ?

Does Traffic Enforcement Reduce Crime? Copyright 1999 by Wesley Harris.

Wesley Harris was Chief of Police in Decatur, GA from 1994 to 1998. He now runs his own management and training consulting firm in Longview, Texas. He is a frequent contributor to Law and Order and the author of several books.

Criminality is a lifestyle. While most of society feels an obligation to pay taxes, obey the law and expects the same of others, some people live to commit crimes. An armed robber who finds pleasure in shooting his victims in the legs has little regard for other laws. This is called "cognitive consistency." People who commit serious crimes like robbery or drug trafficking find it inconsistent with their lifestyles to obey mundane traffic laws.

Traffic violations mean little to someone driving a car full of drugs or stolen merchandise. Career criminals are often incredulous when stopped for red light or speeding violations because they commit worse offenses on a regular basis.

In many departments, officers either work "traffic" or deal with "real crime." One agency tried to reduce its burglaries by decreasing traffic enforcement and relying more on passive patrol of affected residential areas. But statistics revealed that when the department was most active in traffic enforcement, the burglary rate was at its lowest.

Many rural sheriff's departments do not practice aggressive traffic enforcement, some because of a lack of staffing, some for political reasons. Yet, burglars in secluded areas require transportation.

A study in Grand Prairie, Texas revealed 28% of the city's criminal arrests, including burglary, robbery and murder, were made by officers assigned to traffic enforcement. In many communities, most drug arrests start out as traffic violations. Bomber Timothy McVeigh was caught by a state trooper who observed a traffic offense.

Does aggressive traffic enforcement have a place in reducing street crime? Chasing speeders on the freeway may not affect your crime rate, but some agencies swear the right kind of traffic enforcement can. The earliest formal studies on the effects of aggressive patrol and enforcement occurred in the 1970's. In response to criticism of the well-known Kansas City Preventive Patrol Experiment, Wilson and Boland (1978) developed a model predicting the use of aggressive patrol would reduce crime. To support their model, the researchers examined robbery rates in 35 large US cities and found they were lower in the cities where more traffic citations were written-their measure of aggressive policing.

Despite criticism of the measuring stick used, similar research by Sampson and Cohen (1988) supported the model. A 1993 study (Weiss, et al) showed no correlation between traffic enforcement and crime reduction but even the researchers recognized flaws in their methods may have concealed such a relationship.

Peoria, Illinois

In 1991, Peoria, Illinois went to what a later chief would call a "friendly, community-oriented policing style." Traffic enforcement was reduced and even the officers' evaluation form was modified so traffic enforcement was no longer a performance issue. Many departments adopting community-policing strategies forget that tried and true crime fighting and enforcing are still essential. COP is not a public relations tool-its purpose is not to make people feel good about the police. It is a philosophy about how the police and the public must work together to fight crime and resolve other public safety issues. Agencies that believe community policing is "shaking hands and kissing babies" often discovering their tactics are ineffective against rising crime.

In just the first year of Peoria's new style of policing, crime increased, calls for service rose 12% and self-initiated activity by officers dropped 25%. By 1994, it was obvious a change was needed so Peoria conducted citizen surveys and reassessed its operations. Citizens named speeding and other traffic violations.

Officers again placed emphasis on self-initiated activity and a shift was made from public relations to true community policing. During the next year, self-initiated activity was up 14%, citations up 16%, and crime fell by 6%. In the following year, self-initiated activity climbed another 18% while crime dropped 13%.

Peoria's use of roadblocks or safety checks illustrates the relevance traffic enforcement has in combating crime. During six roadblocks in August 1996, Peoria officers checked 1,800 vehicles, issuing 400 traffic citations. Nearly 200 arrests were made, 62 on outstanding warrants. The arrests included 44 drug violations and four stolen cars were recovered. While conducting a roadblock in a gang-infested area of Peoria, officers checked 620 vehicles, resulting in 46 arrests, 70 citations, and the confiscation of six illegal weapons.

Decatur, Georgia

Decatur is a predominantly residential city bordering Atlanta. In 1989, the small city's crime rate reached an all-time high. The police seemed helpless in finding answers. A change in philosophy finally brought an end to the burgeoning crime rate.

From 1989 through 1997, crime index offenses were reduced by an amazing 52%. Street crimes such as burglary, pedestrian robberies, sexual assaults and thefts were among the categories most affected, but all crime declined significantly. Decatur is one of the few communities in America that now boasts a crime rate no higher than it experienced in the early 1970s.

Several factors played roles in this decline, including an emphasis on proactive enforcement tactics. While the old philosophy was described by some officers as a quota system, (the administration called it "productivity") new techniques focused on enforcement activities planned for their effectiveness. Even though Decatur practiced aggressive traffic enforcement in the 1980s, there did not appear to be any impact on the climbing crime rate. It seems working traffic for the sake of writing tickets does not affect crime as much as selective enforcement in critical areas.

Decatur's traffic enforcement moved away from areas that traditionally provided high volumes of citations, such as major thoroughfares and four-way stops, to districts where crime was highest. High crime areas were targeted for additional proactive patrol and enforcement measures. By 1996, the department discovered 75% of its drug arrests and 70% of its car theft arrests originated from vehicle stops. In a city of only 17,000, an average of three wanted fugitives was apprehended weekly by patrol officers, usually on vehicle stops. Officer training received greater priority at the Decatur Police Department during this time. Merely encouraging increased traffic stops was not the answer. In fact, from 1985 to 1989, the average number of traffic stops per officer was higher, but criminal arrests per officer were lower than the period of 1994-1997.

Training was essential in improving the effectiveness of patrol operations. While the State requires officers to receive a minimum of 20 hours of training annually, Decatur set a minimum of 40 hours for each officer and most received more. Emphasis was on search and seizure law, knowledge of criminal and traffic statutes and skills relating to developing probable cause and decision-making.

Every employee of the Decatur department receives some form of training relating to traffic enforcement or occupant protection annually. On July 1, 1996, Georgia adopted a primary safety belt law, allowing officers to stop vehicles based solely on a seat belt violation. During the first year under the new law, Decatur officers made over 200 felony arrests that originated as seat belt stops.

Every officer joining the department immediately receives training in radar use, occupant protection laws and field sobriety testing. For the past eight years, the department has required every sworn officer, regardless of assignment, to complete a three-day field sobriety-testing seminar. Greater awareness of impaired drivers using drugs not only increased DUI arrests but drug possession cases also rose dramatically. Ten years ago, DUI cases involving drugs were virtually nonexistent because officers had received no training on the subject.

Doing It the Right Way

It appears traffic enforcement can reduce crime when it is done "the right way." Agencies should consider the following measures to develop traffic enforcement efforts that can affect crime. Officers should receive training in "looking beyond the ticket." They should know, for example, what to do when:

· A VIN plate appears to be mounted crooked.
· A handful of pawn tickets for TVs and VCRs is found in the car.
· Motorists display stress or deception
· A driver claims he borrowed the car from a "friend" whose name he can't remember.

Every street officer (and supervisor) should receive training in field sobriety testing and constant refreshers and updates on probable cause, search and seizure and laws and ordinances. Sometimes it's a lack of knowledge of what to do and how to do it that stymies effective performance.

Emphasis on proactive policing skills is essential. Do officers know how to ask a motorist for consent to search? Do they utilize NCIC checks and investigative techniques to reveal criminal activity?

Every officer should be involved in traffic enforcement, regardless of assignment. Caution should be taken in creating separate "traffic units." In most U.S. agencies, it is a waste of resources. Such units give the impression to other officers that traffic enforcement is no longer their responsibility.

Likewise, traffic unit officers tend to develop a "traffic" mindset. Departments encourage this by providing mostly traffic-related training.

Agencies should plan their traffic enforcement efforts. Hit-or-miss hardly ever works in any undertaking. The success of the New York City Police Department in reducing crime shows the effectiveness of focusing resources on defined "hot spots." Consider what works in reducing accidents and crime. Sitting on the Interstate citing tourists may not do the trick.

We place great emphasis on crime suppression because of the impact crime has on society. People don't want murder, rape, and robbery in their communities. But we seem more tolerant of death and injury from traffic accidents.

There is now a push to refer to them as traffic "crashes" to move away from the attitude that they are "accidents" and there is nothing we can do about them. Due to the publics' fear of crime and our own priorities, most resources are directed towards suppressing criminal activity rather than traffic enforcement.

The two actually go hand in hand. Half a century ago in 1948, in a tiny book called Police Patrol, Richard Holcomb wrote, "Many criminals that would have otherwise escaped have been arrested because they violated a traffic law and were arrested by an alert officer." That observation remains true today. Traffic enforcement, conducted properly, can have a significant impact on your crime rate.

Sunday Times: 1999/11/07

Please let me stay in jail its much nicer here!

PRISONERS like Swazilands maximum-security prison at Matsapha so much that they'll do anything to stay there, writes FANYANA MABUZA.

In a country where unemployment is rampant, the prisoners' escape whenever they can because they know they will be sentenced to another, much longer, prison term at Matsapha.

Proving the point, Sabelo Mkhonta escaped this week, only a fortnight before the end of a nine-month sentence for housebreaking and theft.

Prisons department spokesman Joseph Mahlindza said: It is nothing but a ploy to be re-arrested and have another shot at enjoying the institution's wonderful housing and catering facilities.

When the prime minister and the country's judges recently visited Swaziland's jails, they came across an elderly inmate who has refused to leave prison, although his murder sentence expired a number of years ago. The man is not treated as a prisoner, though he continued wearing prison garb.

He keeps himself busy by working in the warders' gardens, and they pay him pocket money. As envious, law-abiding, but penniless Swazis would say, it's nice work if you can get it. African Eye News Service.

Copyright I-Net Bridge (Pty) Ltd, 1999

Lewiston Sun, November 5, 1999: EDITORIAL

American voters can complicate things for public servants. If Maine's marijuana vote had gone the other way, Mark Dion's attitude probably would have been the same. He seems to have the concept of public service figured out.

Dion, a Lewiston native currently assigned to Cumberland County as its sheriff, was in a class by himself in support of Tuesday's vote to legalize small amounts of marijuana for medical use with a doctor's OK.

We didn't find any other law enforcement types willing to climb up onto the same soapbox.

And on Wednesday, when the totals were in, the rest began their hand wringing about enforcement.

"Everybody wants to be compassionate," said Portland Police Chief Michael Chitwood, "But now we've got this law. Now what do you do?"

You do your best, Chief Chitwood. And take a lesson from Sheriff Dion.

Dion said about voters, "They have given us permission to solve this issue. It's time to roll up our shirt sleeves and go to work."

That's the essence of democracy. The will of the people must be followed. Government officials appointed and elected to serve the public sometimes forget that voters are not just compassionate, easily swayed and a little silly.

They're the bosses. If they say patients in pain should have easy, legal access to marijuana as a means to alleviate the pain, then they're right. Law enforcement officers and legislators may puzzle how to make this happen, but make it happen they must. It won't be easy. It won't be straightforward. And if it's not done well, it will make other drug enforcement efforts conflicting and confusing.

So do it well. It can be done. Dion seems to know that. "This is democracy in action," he says. He's right. It's sometimes rude and sometimes crude, but it's democracy.

In answer to Chitwood's lament, "Now what do you do?" we suggest unbuttoning those sleeves.

Here is someones take on the FBI and their attempt to demonize cults and the militia. The Masons are a cult. So is the Catholic Church. The FOP is clearly cultish.

The FBI Paranoia Report

Table of Contents:

I Introduction
II Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
A. Brief History
B. Ideological Beliefs
C. Profile of the Group
D. Funding
E. Examples of Terrorist Activities
III Conclusion

Introduction:

With only a few months to go until the year 2000, there has already been an increase in pro-government paranoid thinking. By studying pro-government extremist groups like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Project FBI Paranoia has found a wealth of information on their dangerous ideological belief system. The FBI terrorist group poses a threat to the individual liberties of all Americans. With a long history of ignoring the Bill of Rights, there is a legitimate reason to believe that they will continue to pose a threat in the year 2000 and beyond.

II. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

A. Brief History

A part of the so-called "Department of Justice" (DOJ), the FBI is one of the most well known extremist government groups. Founded in 1908, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has a long history of violating an individual's rights.1 In the 1920's and 30's, the FBI enforced the unsuccessful Prohibition laws. Out of these laws came two powerful classes of gangsters. Al Capone and other bootleggers are confined to the history books but the FBI federal gangsters have survived to this date. During the Cold War era, the FBI continued to produce file after file on "subversive" people under J. Edgar Hoover's reign. People as benign as Helen Keller had a file produced on them by this government supremacist group. Even with the end of the Hoover administration, the FBI has not stopped their terrorist activities against individual liberty. In the past decade, there is evidence pointing to FBI cover-ups in incidents like Waco, Ruby Ridge, and Filegate. The FBI terrorist group is responsible for numerous killings of innocent Americans. Even with these charges, the FBI extremists have not been brought to justice.

B. Ideological Beliefs

The FBI is founded upon a belief in a strong federal government. The federal government has supremacy over the state/local governments as well as the individual American. The FBI has gained an increasing presence in all areas of law enforcement activities on a national, state/local, and even international level.

Contrary to the principles of state sovereignty expressed in the 9th and 10^th amendments, the FBI now claims jurisdiction over many "law enforcement" activities that should be reserved for the states or not be done at all. Working along side other government supremacist groups, they have managed to produce a tyrannical system of power over all Americans. The FBI government supremacists advocate Draconian laws and legislation that effects us all.

FBI pro-government supremacists want your fingerprint, access to your computer files, your DNA, almost anything that they can get on you. What the government extremists don't tell you is that the FBI and other pro-government supremacists groups are waging a war against your basic rights.

The FBI's paranoid belief system lends itself to producing a "witch-hunt" mentality. They irrationally perceive that there are many "witches" who will appear around the year 2000. Many excellent examples of their paranoid mentality can be found in reading their newest press release, "Project Megiddo."2 The report includes hateful language like "cult". FBI government supremacists use terms like "cults" to describe any group they don't like. They are also targeting "militia, apocalyptic, christian identity, " groups as possible enemies for the year 2000. Their witch-hunts focus on "unpopular" targets in order not to ruffle the feathers of the mainstream culture. Even if you don't belong or associate with any of these groups, remember the witch-hunts often lead to increasing power for the FBI.

Interpretation of the Constitution/Bill of Rights

The FBI claims to be "faithful to the Constitution."3 But like most government supremacist groups, their faithfulness is only to be found in a broad interpretation of the Constitution. Adherents of this "living" constitution can justify their actions by claiming the Constitution can be easily changed according to the "popular" ideas of the current time. Of course, the "constitution" that the FBI has remained faithful, doesn't include a Bill of Rights. The FBI is fearful of the original Bill of Rights. If presented with a copy of these rights, they will still ignore them. Government supremacists follow a "constitution" that doesn't include individual rights.

The FBI terrorist government supremacist extremist's "bill of rights" says, "you have the right to forfeit all your rights whenever we say so! Ha. Ha. Ha." It's a perverted "bill of rights" based upon the rights of the government not of the people. The FBI regularly oppresses the civil liberties of all people; hence, the term "equal opportunity oppressors" would apply to their ideological beliefs. However, as with any terrorist organization, the FBI has their special targets as they mentioned in "Project Megiddo".

C. Funding

The FBI receives it money by "fraudulent funding." The FBI is funded by dollars that have been stolen in numerous "taxation" schemes. Because of the passage of an income tax amendment in 1913, the FBI has been able to fund many of their expensive terrorist acts. Congress critters appointed them a 3.1 billion-dollar budget last year.

Because the FBI is a state-sponsored terrorist organization, the FBI portrays themselves as being a legitimate "law enforcement" organization to their funders. By releasing a "10 most wanted list", they try to convince the public that they are just trying to catch the "bad guys". However, remember, as a state-sponsored terrorist organization that can get their hands on a lot of advanced weaponry and they have little regard for the Bill of Rights.

D. Profile of the group.

The FBI claims to have about 11,400 "special agents" and 16,400 "Professional Support Personnel" in their terrorist group. 1 The numbers would be higher if you include FBI sympathizers as well as other government supremacist groups. The current leader of the FBI is the ironically named Louis Freeh. Freeh's leadership has continued the long line of the liberty destroying goals of the agency. With 2000 on the horizon, there is a lot of opportunity for them to further oppress and/or kill innocent people. They may use the date to signify a "crackdown" on the Bill of Rights or any other individuals that "get in the way" of their goals.

FBI agents aren't always easy to spot. When in "action", they are found sporting black uniforms with jack boots. If you spot any agents in this attire, do not approach them. FBI agents have been known to burn/shoot children. In order to appear more acceptable, many will sport normal business attire and/or regular clothing. Don't let this fool you into complacency. They still will destroy your rights.

Hundreds of FBI compounds can be found throughout this country. They have been known to stockpile files, fingerprints, and weapons in these locations. Some compounds many also include numerous files on innocent Americans and evidence of their cover-ups. Do not enter these compounds. They are heavily guarded and they may create a file on you afterwards.

E. Examples of terrorist acts by the FBI.

The past decade has already given us examples of terrorist acts committed by these groups. This will only be a brief overview in hope that the reader will already be well familiar with their blunders. The FBI terrorist organization typically attacks targets, which are "unpopular" or have been "demonized" by the media and mainstream public. FBI agents have also been known to conspire with other government supremacists groups like the ATF, DEA, and any number of SWAT teams.

Ruby Ridge: In 1992, FBI snipers shot a mother and a child in Ruby Ridge, Idaho.5 The FBI terrorist groups include deadly snipers that are trained to kill on command. FBI snipers or "sharpshooters" show a very dangerous trend in the evolution of this group. It also shows that FBI terrorists are not afraid to use powerful weapons against women and children. A FBI sniper, Lon Horiuchi, is still at large and hasn't been brought to justice for these murders.

Waco: In one of the worst acts of government terrorism, about 80 men, women, and children died on April 19th, 1993 in Waco, Texas. An alliance of supremacist government groups was formed in order to carry out this terrorist event. The FBI falsely justified that Branch Davidians were a "cult" and therefore should be burned in order to "save" them. Pro-government supremacists have a deranged "religious" doctrine that includes "killing" people who need to be "saved". The FBI terrorism at Waco shows how they will use military weapons like tanks and helicopters against their victims.

III. Conclusion

The FBI is a typical example of a pro-government fringe group. This report is only a brief overview of their ideas, and activities in order to provide the reader with a starting point to further investigation. The author encourages Americans to find out more about the FBI and other government supremacist groups. There is a wealth of information on the Internet as well as many good publications on the terrorism of these groups.

Sources:

http://www.fbi.gov/yourfbi/history/hist.htm
Project Meggido can currently be found on their extremist website http://www.fbi.gov/
http://www.fbi.gov/yourfbi/faq/faqover.htm
http://www.fbi.gov/yourfbi/faq/faqover.htm
David Kopel & Paul H. Blackman , No More Wacos (Amherst, N.Y. : Prometheus Books, 1997), p. 32-39
http://www.dabney.com/WacoMuseum/cover/c_page02.html
(Written by Melissa Hill email: uncontrolkills@hotmail.com
 

Technologies and Tools for Public Safety: Things to Come in the 21st Century

Tim Dees is a former police officer now teaching criminal justice at Floyd College in Rome, GA.
While vacationers packed Orlando, Florida hotels recently, a group of law enforcement, military and private sector personnel were learning and sharing methods for dealing with challenges to public safety in the near future.
The Technologies and Tools for Public Safety in the 21st Century conference sponsored by the National Institute of Justice, was a showcase of reports on how to handle mass emergencies, demonstrations of the latest tools in the public safety arsenal, and tutorials on how to overcome common hurdles to preparedness: funding.

This conference was the fifth in an annual series, although the focus and title of the conference has changed each year. In past years, there was greater emphasis on community policing projects and strategies, that being the focus of law enforcement at that time. The attention this year was different in the light of terrorist bombings and biological and chemical threats. Those who made presentations had no doubt that these threats are not a question of "if," but rather, "when," and that planning is vital in order to minimize casualties.

The Federal Effort

One immediately apparent distinction between this and other seminars directed primarily at law enforcement was the presence of a significant number of military personnel. The Department of Defense (DoD), and particularly the reserve and National Guard components, has committed to taking an active role in assisting local public safety organizations in disaster management.

It was emphasized that DoD does not intend to take over disaster management, but to render assistance with personnel, equipment, and expertise wherever possible. Major Greg Martin, chief of the training branch of the Consequence Management Program Integration Office in the U.S, Army's Military Support Office, stressed this in his presentation. "The local agency incident commander is in charge of an incident, and will remain in charge, before and after arrival of military resources. Our RAID unit commanders are instructed to report to the local incident commander," Martin said. RAID is an acronym for Rapid Assessment and Initial Detection. These are National Guard units with special training and equipment that are ready to be deployed into "hot zones" hit by a weapon of mass destruction (WMD).

RAID units are equipped to assist local agencies in identifying the type and scope of a WMD deployment, and to advise and assist on the best methods for protecting local public safety personnel from personal risk, and to decontaminate and/or treat victims. These 22 units are deployed regionally across the United States, with more RAID teams to be formed, pending funding from Congress.

Other presentations discussed methods whereby local agencies can obtain training, funding or equipment from federal resources. A National Domestic Preparedness Office has been formed under the U.S. Dept. of Justice to coordinate all federal efforts to assist local agencies in this endeavor. More information about this project will appear in a future issue of Law and Order.

David Boyd, director of the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC), spoke on the importance of involving the DoD in local public safety efforts, especially those involving technology. "As large as NIJ's (National Institute of Justice) science and R&D budget is, it is still only a tiny fraction of DoD's R&D budget," Boyd said. "This is why the military's involvement in law enforcement research is critical."

Boyd stressed the need for local agencies to use their funds wisely, so that they can make informed purchases of technology to improve their efforts. Interoperability, or the capacity of technology to work with existing tools and networks, is vital, and a focus of NLECTC.

Boyd cited one EMS service where ambulances had to carry seven radios in order to communicate with other agencies in the area. The microphones for each radio were color coded to identify the various agencies. The radios turned out to be more costly than the rest of the ambulance. This is an unusual example, but not an isolated one. Many agencies in the same or adjacent jurisdictions are unable to readily communicate with one another because of incompatible radio systems or fragmented communications networks.

The NLECTC evaluates many products available to police and can often provide advice on the best product for a particular application or environment. Best of all, their assistance is free, and is unbiased with regard to vendor. Information on ongoing NLECTC programs, including their mailing list of solicitations for grant applications, is available at their JUSTNET web site at http://www.nlectc.org .

Technology Developments

The conference included an exhibit area and three "demo rooms" full of tools that were either under development or were already available. Some of these were highly advanced tools had been developed as pure or defense research, and then applied to the public safety mission. Some of the technology used to develop the new tools was amazing.

The "Laser Dazzler," a device that looks like a police flashlight on steroids, was displayed by Law Enforcement Systems. Instead of projecting common white light, it emits a rapidly strobing green laser light that disorients anyone who views it head on. The effect has to be experienced to be appreciated. Unlike the light from a laser pointer or most other laser sources, light from this device can be shone directly into the eye for prolonged periods without damage to the eye. The laser beam does not spread as widely as a conventional light beam, so that the width of the beam at 50 feet from the source is about 1 meter.

This makes it effective for control of crowds and individuals alike.

The device can be used at crime scenes to reveal the presence of latent fingerprints that have been dusted with a fluorescent powder. Because the laser light has at least twice the range and penetrating power through smoke and fog of a standard white light flashlight, it can also be deployed for area searches by police, search and rescue personnel, and firefighters.

Another tool shown was the Parashot, a camera attachment that allows photographing of a 360-degree image in a single shot. The demonstrated product used a digital camera to capture a full-circle view of the area around it. When viewed on a monitor you can pan around and see a 360-degree view with very little distortion, much like standing in one spot and turning in place. This device has applications for crime scene photos, to establish the configuration of an entire room with one photo, or for alarm systems or surveillance cameras that can monitor a large area with minimal blind spots (the only blind spot is directly beneath the camera). The Parashot is currently available, and is certified for use with several models and manufacturers of digital cameras.

Engineering Technology, Inc. displayed a set of modular devices for use in training EOD technicians. The "Black Widow" devices safely simulate the triggering of a device when the appropriate stimulus (motion, seismic, tripwire, digital timer, photocell, passive infrared, contact switch) has been sensed, and fires a small spark igniter that makes an audible "snap," alerting the technician that the device has been triggered. These devices can be used repeatedly and safely at low cost. A "flying plate disruptor," developed by the Naval Surface Warfare Center and which can be manufactured for less than $20, is suggested for rendering safe large fertilizer-based bombs, such as that used in the bombing in Oklahoma City. The device is a plastic sleeve that holds a convex brass plate about six inches in diameter, and ¼ inch thick. Plastic explosive is packed on the convex side of the plate, and the sleeve is mounted on a platform, such as a tripod. When the explosive is detonated, the plate is sent into the core of the fertilizer bomb. Tests have determined that this velocity and type of impact will disrupt the bomb without exploding it, so that it can be rendered safe. The device can be manufactured easily so it can be available to any EOD unit. Because the plastic explosive need not be added until just before use, the device has an indefinite shelf life.

Customs inspectors at international ports are wearing radiation detection "pagers" developed by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and were demonstrated. These devices, the size and shape of a standard pager, work similarly to a pager. However, instead of being triggered by a broadcast radio signal, they beep or vibrate when in the presence of a gamma radiation source, and indicate via a digital display its relative strength. This alerts the inspector to a hazardous (and possibly covert) shipment of radioactive material without notifying a suspect.

Funding Opportunities

The federal government is aware that the biggest obstacle to emergency preparedness for many local governments is funding. It is difficult to justify funding for equipment and training for an emergency that a community has never experienced. Therefore, several avenues of funding are available from the federal level, as well as opportunities to obtain equipment or training from federal stores. One of these is the Domestic Preparedness Grants Program from the DoJ, Office of Justice Programs (OJP).

Seventy five million has been allocated by Congress for acquisition of counterterrorism related equipment for state and local agencies. (Law and Order will provide more detail about these funding opportunities in a future issue.) Meanwhile, interested agencies can contact the OJP's Office for State and Local Domestic Preparedness Support at (202) 305-9887, or the OJP Office of Congressional and Public Affairs at (202) 307-0703. L&O

References:

Black Widow EOD Trainers
ETI Products
3275 Progress Drive
Orlando, FL 32826
Fax: (407) 275-1630
Internet: http://www.engrtech.com
Laser Dazzler
Law Enforcement Systems, Inc.
60 Sequin Drive
Glastonbury, CT 06033
Fax: 860-633-3284
E-mail: lesystems@aol.com
Parashot
Cyclovision Technologies
295 Madison Ave., 32nd Floor
New York, NY 10017
Fax: 212-499-0550
The RoadSpike™
PMG Manufacturing Group
170 North 17th Street
Wheeling, WV 26003-7073
Fax: (304) 277-4085
E-mail: pmg@ovnet.com

Beyond Good Cop, Bad Cop: by Joseph D Mcnamara

LA Times, Sunday, November 21

Joseph D. McNamara, Retired Police Chief of San Jose and a Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Is the Author of the Forthcoming Book "Gangster Cops: the Hidden Cost of America's War on Drugs."

STANFORD--Is a good police department one that has a high volume of arrests? Or is it one that has a high conviction rate for arrests? Is the model department one that has a fast response time to emergency calls? Few shootings by officers? Low crime rates? Or is it simply one that isn't bad, a department that has no scandals such as the Los Angeles Police Department is agonizing over at Rampart Division? An easy answer is that a good department measures up to all the above. But it isn't that simple.

Arrests take officers off the street to book prisoners, process evidence and appear in court. Unnecessary arrests lengthen response times to Emergencies because there are fewer cops remaining to respond. Arrests for minor violations frequently cost taxpayers money in police overtime. And arrests for petty violations often produce complaints of harassment and racial and ethnic discrimination. In addition, such arrests can trigger resistance and escalate the use of force by police, leading to successful lawsuits against departments, especially if those arrested are found not guilty.

In my rookie days in Harlem, I worked with a cop who made a lot of felony arrests, but eight of 10 were for felonious assaults on him. He produced his own crime wave. Operation Hammer, launched against gangs by former L.A. Chief Daryl F. Gates in the late 1980s, perfectly illustrates unproductive arrests. In 1990, during police sweeps of minority neighborhoods, 25,000 youths were arrested but fewer than 1,500 of them were ever charged with a crime. Gangs thrived on the publicity. Their membership increased, along with gang violence.

Does this mean that officers should be rewarded for arrests that lead to convictions but chastened if charges are dismissed? Theoretically, cops are public servants who bring defendants and evidence before courts and have no interest in the outcomes. Cops and defense attorneys agree this is nonsense.

Officers believe defendants broke the law and should be punished. They often are frustrated when courts don't find suspects guilty or when they think sentences are too lenient. Many police officers are tempted to help the case a little. Some of the worst cop criminals had the best arrest and conviction rates. Twenty-nine L.A. County deputy sheriffs were convicted a decade ago of robbing drug dealers, perjury, and stealing drugs and then selling them. The deputies found it easy to convict innocent people. Gangster cops don't hesitate to plant evidence and/or lie on the witness stand.

One of the toughest challenges facing police management is to convince the overwhelming majority of honest cops not to adopt a code of street justice that tempts them to falsify evidence or commit perjury. Rewarding cops for obtaining convictions would considerably increase the temptation.

Furthermore, it can be unfair to criticize an officer when a defendant is not convicted as charged. My first arrest illustrates the point. I was walking a foot beat when I saw a disturbance a block away. I got there too late to save the victim's life, but I did arrest a suspect and learned that the crime had been premeditated. The defendant was indicted for first-degree murder by a grand jury. The prosecutor and judge, however, allowed the defendant to plead guilty to second-degree manslaughter. I certainly didn't agree with their decision, but only in police states can cops expect to have the final authority over convictions and punishment.

When criminals try to enter their homes, people understandably want and expect a fast police response to their 911 calls. On the other hand, studies show that spending millions of dollars to shave seconds off police-response time does not affect arrest, conviction or crime rates. While police chief of San Jose, I discovered that quick responses to high-priority calls actually increased the time it took cops to respond to serious crimes in progress. It turned out that more than 90% of high-priority responses were to burglar and robbery alarms, 95% of which were false.

The time it took to respond to actual assaults, robberies or burglaries was much longer, because people calling 911 reported such crimes as loud arguments in the street or suspicious strangers in their neighbor's yard. The number of false alarms dramatically decreased when the city council passed an ordinance punishing those responsible for repeatedly making false alarms. This resulted in faster police-response times to all calls.

One would think there would be little disagreement about praising a police department not disgraced by gangster cops. Yet, in many instances, there was no publicized scandal largely because departments had ignored complaints that certain cops were robbing drug dealers and framing people. Such indifference allowed bad deputy sheriffs in Los Angeles and crooked cops in Brooklyn and many other places to hold guns to the heads of their victims with the same chilling words: "You have no rights. We can do whatever we want."

In the final analysis, the key to running a good police department is balance. Voluminous arrests and fast response times are not ends in themselves. They Are only tools a police department needs to serve the community. Nor should a city make the mistake of tolerating brutal and illegal policing in return for being protected from crime. On the contrary, when police and community groups lawfully work together they improve neighborhood safety. Police departments have to balance the rights and needs of their cops with the duty they owe the public.

Cops have to be given reasonable discretion to protect themselves and citizens, but that never justifies a police culture in which officers embrace a code of silence because of perceived threats or a "shoot first, ask questions later" mentality. When people wonder how gangster cops can engage in criminal activity for years without detection, officers should not respond by labeling them cop haters. Similarly, the police cannot dismiss news reports of police scandals as little more than hostility and ignorance. If officers police themselves, all the right objectives can be achieved.

Toward that end, department management must encourage and protect cops with the courage to stop and report wrongdoing by their colleagues. Police credibility is assured when the public believes a code of silence doesn't protect criminal cops. When people trust cops, they will work with them to reduce crime. Public trust is also an officer's best protection against unfair complaints.

If war is too important to be left to generals, policing is too important to be left to the police. Good police departments exist where citizens, their elected representatives and police strike the appropriate balance between providing security and protecting civil liberties.

Gandhi's Wit and Wisdom

1 Introduction

South Africa has undergone major political changes in 1994, which led to the need for transformation of the public service. Most citizens have also shown an increase in the desire to reconfirm their origin, going back to their culture and emphasising those aspects that were oppressed by the apartheid regime. This increased, among others, the desire to revisit the Afrocentric management style called ubuntu, and emphasise its importance and benefits.

This paper discusses the notion of ubuntu in detail.  It starts by looking at what the idea means and then how it can be used to improve service delivery in the public service.  It concludes by analysing whether ubuntu can be reconciled with an entrepreneurial spirit in public management.

2 An explanation of ubuntu

According to Mbigi (1997:2), ubuntu “is a literal translation for collective personhood and collective morality”. He says that the concept is best expressed by the Xhosa proverb, which says that people are people through others. Ubuntu is expressed in collectivity or doing things together. This means that ubuntu promotes the belief that one must think of others in everything he/she does. It means collective unity and good relations with others and being respectful and considerate towards others. Mbigi (1997:3) indicates that ubuntu is a concept which is uniquely African and emphasises concern for people and being good.

Mbigi (1997:3) says that ubuntu refers to ‘broederbond’ in Afrikaans and brotherhood in English. These words are not a translation of ubuntu but they mean that people are, by nature, good, considerate and relate with their social others.  Broodryk (1998:28) indicates that ubuntu means humanness, menslikheid in Afrikaans (own translation). This is a more accurate translation of the Zulu word ubuntu. The main pillars of ubuntu are intense caring and sharing attitudes. Broodryk (1998:29) explains an African management style in terms of four teats of a cow. He illustrates that if a person has two cows and the milk of one is sufficient for his family, he donates the milk of the second cow to someone who does not have any milk. Tusenius (1998:21) calls this “Africa’s beautiful tradition of caring and sharing”. He says that a person, who had capital in the form of cattle, would borrow some to a poor brother who would keep the calves and return the borrowed cattle. He continues to say that this tradition can be called socially responsible capitalism because the “haves” are not greedy at the expense of the “have-nots”, but they share with others.
 
The SAPS has a programme called UBUNYE which is aimed at creating a united and committed Police Service which is guided by the principles of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, no 108 of 1996. This programme started as programme ubuntu but the name was later changed to ubunye. Although the SAPS argues that the name of the programme was changed because their objectives are not in line with the principles of ubuntu, the word UBUNYE means oneness and the concept is also in line with the collective unity explained above. This paper therefore sees ubunye as being derived from ubuntu.

3 Improving service delivery in government departments through ubuntu

The government and its departments can successfully make use of ubuntu to resolve internal problems and improve service delivery. The White Paper on transformation of public service delivery assets that public services are not a privilege but a legitimate expectation for all persons in South Africa. This means that the government and its departments must do everything in its power to deliver better services. ubuntu can be successfully used to resolve internal problems, motivate employees and build better relations with the community which will result in improved service delivery.

2.1 Healing and reconciliation

The fact that ubuntu emphasises goodness and oneness means that it can be used as an effective tool to reconcile people and bring a spirit of peace among them. This will be helpful particularly in South Africa which is culturally and racially fragmented and is characterised by atrocities of the past in which human rights were violated. According to Mbigi (1997:16), South Africans see themselves in terms of skin colour and do not have a sense of national identity. This will make it difficult for the country to develop and become economically competitive. People need to accept their cultural differences and yet focus on similarities for societal prosperity.

Government and ubuntu
There is a need to reconcile the past, which was characterised by injustice and human rights violation and the future, which recognises human rights and peaceful coexistence. The main task of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was to restore the human and civil dignity of victims of past atrocities, a process which would make South Africans feel at home. With its emphasis on respect for human rights and equality, the Constitution of the RSA no 108 of 1996 recognises the need to revive the spirit of ubuntu.

According to a report on National Unity and Reconciliation (1998:12), the main task of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was to restore the human and civil dignity of victims of the past atrocities, a process which would make South Africans feel truly at home. This already refers to ubuntu as in the traditional South African culture, a person (even a stranger) is received with warmth and made to feel at home. The Commission endeavoured to bring oneness in South Africa through understanding and compensation rather than vengeance and retaliation. The report quotes a Constitutional Court Justice Langa who said that cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment is not in line with ubuntu. There is a call for South Africa to return to ubuntu to be able to restore justice and the dignity of all people.

Government departments and institutions
Most government departments and institutions still experience racial tensions and discrimination. People are struggling to reconcile with each other and work together as one. There have been a lot of media reports on racism in many departments. Employees prefer to report and write letters to the media to raise their concerns out of desperation and loss of faith.

A lot of reports appeared in the media on incidents of racism and discrimination affecting persons at different levels of the hierarchy in the South African Police Service. The Media reported complaints from Constables as well as Assistant Commissioners. It is discouraging to see that even the latter, who are part of top management, also complain through the media. Most of them say that they end up going to the media to expose the system after trying very hard to resolve the issues among their own ranks, but in vain. The situation was bad enough for the Minister for Safety and Security to appoint an independent committee of inquiry in July 1998 to investigate these issues (see Annexure A).

A Black Officers Forum (BOF) was established by senior police person’s countrywide in 1998.  The BOF was formed to challenge the lack of transformation in the SAPS. They argued that the top management was still predominantly white, blacks were being marginalised and that racism was still rife (see Annexure B).

This discussion shows that the SAPS are still fragmented, it lacks UBUNYE (oneness) and people need to reconcile with each other so that they can work in harmony. Ubuntu can play a major role here in helping people deal with their differences, particularly secondary diversities ie those aspects that can be changed, and build a team spirit.

2.2 A spirit of warmth and empathy

A simple explanation of empathy is ‘the ability to see the world through the eyes of another person’. This means understanding what another person is going through as if one is experiencing it but still being able to maintain one’s own perspective and to offer assistance. Warmth is the genuine care and understanding which makes someone feel unconditionally accepted. These two principles will make the public official understand the problems and needs of others and be willing to help in a non-judgemental and genuine manner.
 
The public service exists because of the people. An ubuntu attitude can encourage a spirit of sharing - your problem is my problem also (if you have no sugar, you can come and ask for sugar from me). In the African home, a person is immediately accepted and made to feel at home. This spirit can be used to pursue the principles of Batho pele - customers will be accepted with warmth and courtesy and made to feel at home. Good people relations are the basis for service delivery and image building. A general concern for people will enable a public servant to be courteous even if he cannot help, the way in which a person is received will count and make a mark.

2.3 Leadership and ubuntu

Saunders (1998:32) indicates that managers should not rule subordinates anymore but should rather develop co-operative relations with them. He says that coercive power has changed to referent power. According to Smit and Cronjé (1997:283), coercive power refers to the leader’s ability to influence the behavior of others through fear. Referent power refers to the leader’s ability to influence others through his charisma. Subordinates follow a leader because they admire, respect and identify with him. They also believe that the leader has their interest at heart. Failure to establish genuine relationships and earn the co-operation of subordinates may make the latter to be mediocre, alienated from their work and produce only enough to keep their jobs. They will not be motivated and the high level of productivity achieved when subordinates are motivated will be lost.

Broodryk (1998:30) indicates that the culture of ubuntu does not involve disorder and chaos, but has discipline and order. He says that the Afrocentric leader is approachable and therefore has an open-door policy. Decisions are taken and changed transparently and accountably. This can be very helpful in bureaucracies such as the SAPS where decisions are still taken at top level and then imposed on the employees. Although most managers like to say that they have an open door policy, this is something they just say but do not ‘walk the talk’.  Employees still have to go through many channels to get to top management when they have issues to address. The ubuntu style of management is open, the leader is part of the team and workers have easy access.
 
2.4 Recogniton of the social needs of people

Smit & Cronjé (1997:308) explain Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as one motivation theory. Social needs are on the third level of the hierarchy and surface once the physiological and security needs have been satisfied. A secured job is one of the aspects that satisfy a person’s need for security. Once a person has secured a job, his/her social needs start to come into play. This is the need for love, friendship and belonging to groups. This is because people are social beings. They need to relate with and be accepted by others.

The workplace must be conducive to the satisfaction of social needs because people spend most of their time there. Ubuntu allows for the satisfaction of social needs as it focuses on collectivism and good relations with others. People who work together are able to share common problems and/or concerns experienced at home or in their work. This helps to reduce stress, so they can continue to be productive. On the other hand, a person who is isolated can feel more frustrated if he/she has no one to share feelings with and will not be productive at all.

An Afro-centric leader employs participative management and is more concerned with people’s needs and progress. Such a leader has a high concern for people. Smit & Cronjé (1997:291) refer to the University of Michigan Studies, which found that employees experienced higher job satisfaction and a low turn over, and absenteeism where leaders were employees oriented. On the other hand, there was low job satisfaction and a high turn over and absenteeism when leaders were more task-oriented. This means that people should no longer be seen as machines that will just increase production but their social needs must be recognised and satisfied. Robbins (1993:185) also indicates that people get more out of their work except money. Work fulfils their need for social interaction. He says that workers who have friendly and supportive colleagues and supervisors experience more job satisfaction than those who do not have such social support.

2.5 Dealing with cultural diversity

Van der Walt and Du Toit (1998:261) define diversity as “a uniqueness or those human qualities that distinguish one person from another”. A distinction is made between primary and secondary diversity. Primary diversity refers to qualities that are inherent and unchangeable, eg ethnicity, race, sexual orientation and gender. Secondary diversity refers to aspects that can be changed or adapted, eg marital status, religion, work experience and the like. It is important for public managers to understand diversity and to handle it carefully as it is a sensitive issue. The manager must be able to adapt different styles according to the background and qualities of the different employees. He/She must also have adequate communication skills to be able to adapt to the diverse cultures.

The spirit of ubuntu will enable the public manager to have a base for diversity management as he/she will be empathic, have concern for the worth of people, respect their human dignity and accept them unconditionally.

Broodryk (1998:30) argues that culture influences the strategies, which a manager must employ. He refers to the tendency of Africans to be late for meetings, appointments, work, etc. A manager must understand the reasons behind this non-punctuality, commonly called African time, such as that a labourer stays far from the work place and depends on public transport. What is important here for the public manager is that such an employee may be allowed flexible time so that productivity is not affected. Another example quoted is the issue of death. Africans take death very seriously and managers must understand and respect the rituals concerned. This discussion shows that a manager cannot be effective if he ignores cultural diversity and just follows one style of leadership. The style followed must be adapted to the different situations.

2.6 Dealing with misconduct in the public service

Misconduct in the public service is a big problem and deprives the community of their right to proper services such as housing, safety, health and others. The public servants are given powers to act with authority and serve the community on behalf of the Government. Some public officials abuse this authority and engage in misconduct, which mean that the public service cannot be productive. This makes it difficult for the government to achieve its objectives, eg to create a better life for all.

Misconduct can be defined as any unprofessional behavior or an act, which contravenes the code of conduct. Corruption is an umbrella term, which is commonly used in the public service to refer to different kinds of misconduct. These could be fraud, eg the embezzlement of public moneys; theft of government property; sexual harassment; abuse of state assets such as motor vehicles and a lack of work ethic.

The above discussion indicates that misconduct has to do with selfishness and being inconsiderate. Creating a spirit of ubuntu in the public service will help eradicate misconduct in that officials will develop an attitude of caring and sharing. They will understand their position, that they are where they are to serve the community and not to enrich themselves. For instance, one cannot steal money knowing that a poor brother or sister depends on it to purchase food for his children.  Genuine warmth and empathy will enable public officials to understand the needs of the people and have the inner desire to help.
 
The community will also benefit from a people-centred public service. Meetings will be held with the community to listen to their problems and determine what type of service they want. This will be particularly helpful in the provision of safety and security. The police will be able to discuss major problems in the community and how the different areas are to be policed. Once the community feel that their needs are being addressed and they are listened to, then they will start co-operating with the departments and successes will be seen.

3 Ubuntu and an innovative and creative entrepreneurial spirit in public management

According to Fox & Maas (1997:5) entrepreneurial governance is needed to create an entrepreneurial spirit in the public service. The government must have vision, be innovative and self motivated.  Such a spirit will be beneficial as it will maximise welfare and eliminate resistance to change. This will make it easier for the public service to adjust to its continuously changing environment and be more effective.

This section of the paper assesses the feasibility of reconciling ubuntu with an innovative and creative entrepreneurial spirit in public management. In order to assess this, it is important to understand the meaning of innovation and creativity.

3.1 Innovation and creativity

Robbins (1993:680) defines innovation as “a new idea applied to initiating or improving a product, process or service”. This means that innovation includes changing from the old to something new. Innovative organisations encourage their employees to experiment and reward failures and mistakes. Innovators can promote new ideas, overcome resistance and make sure that the ideas are implemented. A person needs creativity to be innovative or to develop a new idea.

According to Van Der Waldt & Du Toit (1998:25), creativity may be defined as “applied imagination or the production of a new idea”. This definition supports the above statement that one needs to produce a new idea, which can then be used to initiate or improve a product, process or service. The environment within which government institutions function change on a continuous basis, so institutions must continuously develop new ideas to continue to be up to date with reality. Fox & Maas (1997:14) indicate that the creation of new enterprises is based on creativity and innovation. The authors accept that everyone is creative and that this can be stimulated through training.

3.2 Can we use ubunto to creatively and innovatively  re-invent government?

Having discussed the notion of ubuntu in detail and given an explanation of what innovation and creativity mean, a question can be asked whether ubuntu can be reconciled with an innovative and creative entrepreneurial spirit in public management.

To be able to answer this question, one needs to highlight the qualities of ubuntu and those of entrepreneurship. Qualities for an ubuntu spirit are oneness, brotherhood, collectivism, sharing, unconditional acceptance and care. Qualities of entrepreneurship are independence, intrinsic motivation, extreme time consciousness, creativity, innovation and vision.

Mbigi (1997:7) indicates that South Africa’s African culture has a triple heritage, i.e. the European (Northern), Asian (Eastern) and African (South). Although the African heritage teaches ubuntu which focuses on relations with and caring for people, South Africa needs the Asian heritage to learn to manage processes such as measuring efficiency and the European heritage to learn about strategic planning and control tools such as budgeting.  Mbigi (1997:8) further says that South Africa’s inability to deliver high quality social services and to create wealth in large quantities is a major threat to transition.

This shows that South Africa lacks the necessary creativity and innovation to develop programmes that will enable government to create wealth. Hence Mbigi (1997:9) says that higher performance levels can be attained if advantage can be taken of strong points from each heritage. The discussion further indicates that even Mbigi, who is a strong advocate of ubuntu, admits that this notion has some shortcomings. It can be effectively used to solve problems relating to people and their relationships with one another but cannot help in encouraging creativity and innovation.

Although Broodryk (1998:31) says that provision must be made for African time in the work place by creating flexi-time systems, he also indicates that this cannot be allowed where a person’s disregard for time affects others. For instance, a pilot cannot come to work at any time, as he/she has to transport passengers and goods on time. The same applies in the SAPS, police persons have to relieve each other from duties, so one cannot come at any time as this may disturb the schedule and those who are to go off duty may end up leaving posts unattended. Mbigi (1997:10) supports this by saying that South Africa needs to learn processes such as delivery on due dates, productivity per person and individual efficiency.

The Michigan Studies referred to above, indicate that employee-oriented leaders had a high production than task-oriented ones. Smit & Cronjé (1997:291) indicate that a conclusion drawn from these studies is that both task- oriented and employee-oriented leadership may be necessary for success. A leadership grid was then developed to identify an ideal leadership style in which there is a high concern for people and a high concern for production (task). The result will be a well-motivated team of workers who work together towards the attainment of goals. This production level will be higher than where the leader is people oriented only. The ubuntu leader will need to be task oriented as well to be truly successful.

4 Conclusion

The notion of ubuntu emphasises collectivism, caring and sharing. It can be effectively used to bring about reconciliation and commitment to helping one’s brothers and sisters. It can even assist to deal with issues such as discrimination and misconduct which have a negative impact on service delivery. However, ubuntu does not promote initiative and risk taking by individuals which can lead to the development of innovate and creative ideas. It can, therefore, not be used to bring about an entrepreneurial spirit in the public service. The requirements for an entrepreneurial spirit are opposite to those of an ubuntu spirit.

However, this does not mean that we can conclude that the spirit of ubuntu must be abandoned and not allowed in the public service. The good attributes of this notion must be adopted and utilised to address the issues mentioned above and improve service delivery. Provision must be made for an entrepreneurial spirit to develop, even if it means having to train individuals to be creative and innovative, so that there can be progress in the public service. This means that the ultimate goal of government, i.e. a better life for all, will be realised by finding a balance between the two concepts, which appear to be totally irreconcilable at face value. The principles of ubuntu must be utilised to lead people (in management) and in rendering a service to the community but those of entrepreneurship be employed when people have to work as individuals. Human beings are flexible and can adjust to different situations.

5 List of sources

Books

Mbigi, L. 1997. UBUNTU : The African Dream in Management. Knowledge resources (PTY) LTD RANDBURG
Robbins, S.P. 1993. Organisational Behavior : Concepts, Controversies and Applications. PRENTICE HALL, Englewood Cliffs: New Jersey.
Smit. PJ & Cronjé GJ de J. 1997. Management Principles : A Contemporary Edition for Africa.
Van der Waldt G & Du Toit, DFP. 1998. Managing for Excellence in the Public Sector. Juta & CO, LTD: Kenwyn

Articles

Broodryk, J. Management Today. April 1998.
Saunders, E. People Dynamics. February 1998
Tusenius, R. Management Today. July 1998
THE STAR Newspaper. 7 July 1998
SOWETAN Newspaper. 22 July 1998.
 

Issues and Findings

Discussed in the Brief: The role of police psychologists in identifying officers at risk for excessive force and in preventing its use; the factors that contribute to use of excessive force by the police.

Key issues: Police psychologists were surveyed to examine the types of services they provide and how those services are used to counter police use of excessive force. The psychologists were also asked to characterize the types of officers who abuse force and to suggest psychology-based intervention strategies that could help police managers reduce excessive force. Of particular interest is whether police departments should rely almost exclusively on pre-employment screening to identify violence-prone candidates.

Key findings

Psychologists' services consist of counseling and evaluation more than training and monitoring of police behavior. Counseling is more likely to be a response to excessive force incidents than a preventive step.

Not one but several distinctive profiles were created on the basis of the psychologists' descriptions of officers at risk. The multiplicity of profiles belies the popular stereotype of a few "bad apples" being responsible for most excessive force incidents.

For periodically evaluating incumbents, psychologists supported using methods other than routine psychological tests. They recommend increasing behavioral monitoring and better training.

Excessive force needs to be considered a result not only of individual personality traits but also of organizational influences. It is symptomatic of a system wide problem that implicates administrative policy as well as such human resource components as selection, training, and supervision.

Current screening methods to evaluate police candidates are limited almost exclusively to psychological tests and pre-employment clinical interviews.

New screening technologies could enable psychologists to examine such areas as a candidate's decision making and problem-solving abilities and quality of interaction with others.  These dimensions are important for resolving situations without using excessive force and are particularly relevant to hiring officers who will work in community policing.

Target audience

Police officials and administrators, police psychologists, researchers.  Police departments have used the services of psychologists for more than two decades. In the 1980's, police psychology began to be recognized as a distinct field, with psychologists' activities expanding beyond screening job applicants to include a broader range of psychological support services.  These included counseling to help officers cope with the unique stresses inherent in police work, training in human relations and general stress management, debriefing after traumatic incidents, and such operational interventions as forensic hypnosis and assistance in negotiations with hostage holders or barricaded persons. Psychological support services for officers who used lethal force were more prevalent than interventions for managing non-lethal, excessive force.

Control of excessive force by police officers is a major challenge for the departments they work for, and it will be increasingly important to the success of community policing initiatives. In two of the most recent examples, excessive force triggered riots in Los Angeles and has been associated with charges of police corruption in New York City. In controlling the problem, the police psychologist can play a key role. This Research in Brief discusses that role and presents ways in which psychologists can identify officers at risk and create remedial interventions, both at the level of the individual and the department level, to prevent the use of excessive force.

This article summarizes one of the studies sponsored by the National Institute of Justice as part of a Justice Department effort to identify additional means to control police use of force.  The beating of Rodney King that precipitated the Los Angeles riots was the event that prompted the Justice Department initiative. On the basis of input from psychologists working in police departments in the Nation's largest cities, profiles of officers who abuse force were developed. The study also identified the functions of psychologists that had relevance to officers' mental health, specifically their use of excessive force, and presented their recommendations on how best to predict, remedy, and prevent excessive force.

The highly experienced police psychologists interviewed for the study had worked a long time either as salaried employees or as consultants to police departments. One out of four were on police command staffs, a measure of the extent to which police psychological services had become established in law enforcement agencies.

A shift in police department focus

Attention by researchers and psychologists to police use of non-lethal excessive force represented a change in emphasis. For the first two decades in which police departments employed psychologists, the use of lethal force was the prime concern. Shootings by police were traumatic incidents that created strong emotional reactions from the officers who did the shooting. The need to provide psychological support for these officers was clear. Departments gradually recognized the need to provide such services immediately following these incidents.

That same level of concern did not generally carry over to the use of non-lethal excessive force.  Officers who used excessive force in making arrests or handling prisoners might be evaluated for their fitness for duty, but psychological support services were not widely available.

Over the past few years, however, greater attention has been given to the issue. Recent research has identified multiple determinants of the use of excessive force, raising questions about whether police departments should rely exclusively on pre-employment screening to identify violence-prone candidates and predict future officer performance. In fact, two reports that followed the Rodney King beating--the 1991 report of the Independent Commission To Study the Los Angeles Police Department and the 1992 Los Angeles County Sheriff's Report by James G. Kolt and staff--questioned the effectiveness of existing psychological screening to predict propensity for violence.

Profiles of violence-prone officers

Psychologists interviewed in the NIJ survey were asked about the characteristics of officers who had been referred to them because of the use of excessive force. Their answers did not support the conventional view that a few "bad apples" are responsible for most excessive force complaints.  Rather, their answers were used to construct five distinct profiles of different types of officers, only one of which resembled the "bad apple" characterization.

The data used to create the five profiles constitute human resource information that can be used to shape policy. Not only do the profiles offer an etiology of excessive force and provide insight into its complexity, but they also support the notion that excessive force is not just a problem of individuals but may also reflect organizational deficiencies. These profiles are presented in the following sections in ascending order of frequency, along with possible interventions.

Officers with personality disorders that place them at chronic risk

These officers have pervasive and enduring personality traits (in contrast to characteristics acquired on the job) that are manifested in antisocial, narcissistic, paranoid, or abusive tendencies. These conditions interfere with judgment and interactions with others, particularly when officers perceive challenges or threats to their authority. Such officers generally lack empathy for others. The number who fit this profile is the smallest of all the high-risk groups.

These characteristics, which tend to persist through life but may be intensified by police work, may not be apparent at pre-employment screening. Individuals who exhibit these personality patterns generally do not learn from experience or accept responsibility for their behavior, so they are at greater risk for repeated citizen complaints. As a consequence, they may appear to be the sole source of problems in police departments.
 
Officers whose previous job-related experience places them at risk

Traumatic situations such as justifiable police shootings put some officers at risk for abuse of force, but for reasons totally different from those of the first group. These officers are not un-socialized, egocentric, or violent. In fact, personality factors appear to have less to do with their vulnerability to excessive force than the emotional "baggage" they have accumulated from involvement in previous incidents.  Typically, these officers verge on burnout and have become isolated from their squads. Because of their perceived need to conceal symptoms, some time elapses before their problems come to others' attention. When this happens, the event is often an excessive force situation in which the officer has lost control.
In contrast to the chronic at-risk group, officers in this group are amenable to critical-incident debriefing, but to be fully effective, the interventions need to be applied soon after involvement in the incident. Studies recommend training and psychological debriefings, with follow-up, to minimize the development of symptoms.

Officers who have problems at early stages in their police careers

The third group profiled consists of young and inexperienced officers, frequently seen as "hotdogs," "badge happy," "macho," or generally immature. In contrast to other inexperienced officers, individuals in this group are characterized as highly impressionable and impulsive, with low tolerance for frustration.  They nonetheless bring positive attributes to their work and could outgrow these tendencies and learn with experience. Unfortunately, the positive qualities can deteriorate early in their careers if field training officers and first line supervisors do not work to provide them with a full range of responses to patrol encounters.

These inexperienced officers were described as needing strong supervision and highly structured field training, preferably under a field training officer with considerable street experience.  Because they are strongly influenced by the police culture, such new recruits are more apt to change their behavior if their mentors show them how to maintain a professional demeanor in their dealings with citizens.

Officers who develop inappropriate patrol styles

Individuals who fit this profile combine a dominant command presence with a heavy-handed policing style; they are particularly sensitive to challenge and provocation. They use force to show they are in charge; as their beliefs about how police work is conducted become more rigid, this behavior becomes the norm.

In contrast to the chronic risk group, the behavior of officers in this group is acquired on the job and can be changed. The longer the patterns continue, however, the more difficult they are to change. As the officers become invested in police power and control, they see little reason to change. Officers in this group are often labeled "dinosaurs" in a changing police world marked by greater accountability to citizens and by adoption of the community policing model.

If these officers do not receive strong supervision and training early in their careers, or if they are detailed to a special unit with minimal supervision, their style may be reinforced. They may perceive that the organization sanctions their behavior. This group would be more responsive to peer program or situation-based interventions in contrast to traditional individual counseling. Making them part of the solution, rather than part of the problem, may be central to changing their behavior.

Officers with personal problems

The final risk profile was made up of officers who have experienced serious personal problems, such as separation, divorce, or even perceived loss of status, that destabilized their job functioning.  In general, officers with personal problems do not use excessive force, but those who do may have elected police work for all the wrong reasons. In contrast to their peers, they seem to have a more tenuous sense of self-worth and higher levels of anxiety that are well masked. Some may have functioned reasonably well until changes occurred in their personal situation. These changes undermine confidence and make it more difficult to deal with fear, animosity, and emotionally charged patrol situations.

Before they resort to excessive force, these officers usually exhibit patrol behavior that is erratic and that signals the possibility they will lose control in a confrontation. This group, the most frequently seen by psychologists because of excessive-force problems, can be identified by supervisors who have been properly trained to observe and respond to precursors of problem behavior. Their greater numbers should encourage departments to develop early warning systems to help supervisors detect "marker behaviors" signifying that problems are brewing. These officers benefit from individual counseling, but earlier referrals to psychologists can enhance the benefit and prevent their personal situations from spilling over into their jobs.

Steps in prevention

Because the profiles reveal different reasons for the use of excessive force, police departments need to develop a system of interventions targeted to different groups of officers and at different phases of their careers. The types of profiles also reveal that individual personality characteristics are only one aspect of excessive force and that risk for this behavior is intensified by other experiences. Some of those experiences implicate the organizational practices of the police departments in which the officers work. To the extent this is true, it indicates the need for remedial intervention at the level of the department as well as the individual level.

Pre-employment screening

The first step in prevention logically entails not hiring officers who would present a problem. Such de-selection is the aim of pre-employment screening, a function in which the police psychologist has a role. Of the psychologists who perform pre-employment screening, almost all rely on fairly traditional assessment tools-psychological tests and clinical interviews. By contrast, they make limited use of more innovative approaches.

There are sound reasons for using the traditional screening tools. They are valid and reliable measurements, and because they are standardized they can serve as the foundation for databases useful for further analysis. But because the tools are used to prevent problem behaviors, including use of excessive force, screening has become psychopathology-driven. It is focused on identifying the characteristics of "bad" officers, and as a result, less is known about the characteristics of "good" officers or about how career experiences mitigate or reinforce these characteristics.

Although information about potential psychopathology is essential to making employment decisions for highly sensitive jobs, this focus has dictated the use of a single model, one that screens out. Reliance on this model makes innovation more difficult. The psychologists interviewed made limited use of other screening approaches--risk assessment models, situational testing, or job simulations--even though these approaches could incorporate a wider range of information for making decisions about the best candidates for police officers.

Innovation on the horizon

Opportunities for developing new screening techniques that may be better able to predict violence are arising for reasons that have nothing to do with excessive force. In particular, recent developments related to the Americans With Disabilities Act will change screening procedures.  According to EEOC enforcement guidance issued in May 1994, some tests administered before a position is offered are now allowable only after a conditional job offer has been made. Tests that might detect mental impairment or disorder are included in this category.

As a result of the ADA-driven changes, "preoffer" testing could undergo substantial change, from which will emerge new screening technologies and analytic methods. These will be used to measure how prospective police officers are likely to interact with people under stressful conditions, make decisions, and solve problems consistent with community policing practices. Automated assessment systems, interactive video testing, assessment centers, job simulations, and role playing exercises all hold promise to meet these goals.

Testing incumbent officers

The psychologists were divided on the use of psychological tests to routinely evaluate incumbent officers for a propensity toward violence. Overall, they supported alternatives to testing because the evidence is still not conclusive that all officers at risk for excessive force could be identified. Although significant strides have been made in methods to predict behavior, psychologists are mindful that human behavior is complex; they are cautious in claiming the accuracy of scientific prediction.

Thus, recommended alternatives to testing need to be considered. At the level of the individual, these should include increased attention to the availability of counseling and support for it. At the level of the department, alternatives should include increased attention to management strategies to improve training, monitoring, and screening.

Training

Some of the training described by the psychologists interviewed represents innovative and promising trends. The models are based on principles of adult learning that require class participation, using such techniques as patrol simulations and role-playing.  They emphasize the development of nonphysical skills as well as physical ones in a community policing environment that assumes frequent interaction between citizens and police. (See box, "Innovations in Excessive Force Training.")

For a majority of the psychologists, the excessive force training they offered was in the context of stress management only. To be sure, stress management training is important; it would be difficult to argue that police work in general, and use-of-force confrontations in particular, are not stressful. However, framing excessive force as a stress issue raises several questions, among them whether the notion is supported by research and whether the approach encourages the perception that stress justifies the use of excessive force.

Stress management training in police departments has not been evaluated systematically, and this raises an additional concern. Beyond anecdotal evidence and limited research data, there is little to indicate how stress consistently affects general police performance. A more viable training focus would reflect departmental policy statements that clarify the tolerance limits for use of force and perceive excessive force as a patrol risk that needs to be managed through a range of specialized skills.

First line supervisors received less instruction on excessive force than did recruits.  Yet the psychologists indicated that first line supervisors have greater influence on officers prone to excessive force than other police personnel. Police departments may need to shift the emphasis in supervisor training to one that incorporates larger behavioral issues in order to improve the management of excessive force. This level of supervisory training could also incorporate instruction on early warning behavioral monitoring.

Monitoring

Monitoring officers' behavior to detect precursors of excessive force was the function used least often by psychologists. (See box, "Core Functions of the Police Psychologist.") Although a majority of the police departments represented in the study sample used some form of monitoring, 58 percent did not include the psychologists in these efforts. Computer tracking of complaints appeared to be the most prevalent form of early warning.  However, while computer tracking may provide useful management information, it is not as helpful in changing behavior because the behavior is relatively well developed by the time it is flagged by the computer.

Monitoring police behavior can serve other purposes in addition to early identification and intervention. It can involve a sustained level of contact between supervisor and officer to reinforce policy and training on excessive force.  Because it involves supervisors, monitoring can provide valuable information to help police managers evaluate the effectiveness of their policies. Thus it can change the behavior of the organization overall in addition to that of the individual officer.

The evidence showing the current emphasis on referrals to counseling and on fitness evaluations provides further support for increasing the monitoring function. The need for earlier interventions, which monitoring would provide, parallels the metaphor of "broken windows," which in a community are signs of deterioration viewed as forerunners of more serious criminal problems.  The metaphor could be applied to human behavior within the police organization. Police managers should pay attention to the signals of deterioration in officer behavior, the behavioral equivalent of "broken windows," before it results in excessive force complaints.

Rethinking the role of police psychologists

The study findings indicate the lack of a coherent strategy to systematically integrate the functions performed by psychologists that are relevant to the use of excessive force. Police departments do not appear to use psychologists as a consistent resource; rather, they use them on an "as needed" basis and as protection against liability from charges of negligence.  There should be a greater emphasis on involving the police psychologist in a proactive approach to managing human resources.  Screening out potential violators, counseling problem officers, and evaluating them for fitness to perform their duties are critical activities, but there is a strong need for ongoing prevention activities that lead to early identification of problems and timely intervention.

Within this context, the prevalence of excessive force needs to be considered as symptomatic of a system wide problem that implicates administrative policies as well as key elements of the human resource system: selection, training, and supervision. These services should be integrated into a structure that maximizes the impact on the individual officer and on the department overall.

Simply using a new screening test or trying a new training program will only continue the piecemeal approach. It will not achieve the balance needed in the structure between predicting excessive force and managing it. A more balanced approach encourages attending to the front end of the system (selection) while building in safeguards throughout (monitoring, training, and supervision).

History of Police Psychological Services

Psychologists began to work with police agencies in the late 1960's, following urban riots in several major cities. The 1968 National Advisory Commission On Civil Disorder Report called for screening methods that would improve the quality of the police officers hired. These recommendations, and the availability of discretionary funds through the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, encouraged police departments to seek the expertise of psychologists to help them select emotionally stable candidates with personal characteristics suitable for police work.

Thus, one of the first police psychology functions involved pre-employment screening of applicants, using psychological tests and assessments, a fairly traditional responsibility for psychologists but one that was new to police.  Later, clinical services were requested and, by 1980, psychologists were not only screening applicants but also counseling officers on how to cope with the stress of policing.

Psychologists brought new sets of skills to police agencies in areas such as a critical incident response for police shootings, hostage or barricade negotiation, criminal profiling, and forensic hypnosis. They also offered training in how to manage the personal stress unique to law enforcement.

The use of police psychologists' services continued to grow. By the latter part of the 1980's, according to one survey, a substantial proportion of police agencies were using these services. Psychologists were screening police recruits, counseling officers for job-related stress and personal and family problems, and conducting training in human relations.

Currently, although pre-employment screening and counseling still command a major share of police psychologists' attention, several departments have adopted a broader role for psychologists, using their services for consultation on policy and planning.

Innovations in Excessive Force Training

Some of the psychologists interviewed in the study have developed training models that take into account how people function under adverse conditions and in highly charged situations.  Components of these models include:

Cultural sensitivity and diversity.
Intervention by fellow officers to stop the use of excessive force.
The interaction of human perception and threat assessment.
Decision making under highly charged conditions.
Psychological methods of situation control.
Patrol de-escalation and defusing techniques that not only teach a tactical response but also respond to the fear stimulated by confrontations.
Anger management programs that use self-assessment and self-management techniques for providing individual feedback to officers on how variable levels of legitimate anger influence judgment.
Training in verbal control and communication, including conflict resolution.

Core Functions of the Police Psychologist

The survey on which this study is based revealed that psychologists' functions in police agencies fell into the categories of evaluation (pre-employment screening and fitness for duty), monitoring police behavior, training, and counseling. The breakdown of functions is as follows:

  77 percent provided counseling services.
  71 percent conducted pre-employment screening.
  54 percent conducted training classes.
  52 percent conducted evaluations of fitness for duty.
  42 percent monitored officers' behavior
 
Functions of police psychology as they relate to excessive force
The psychologists were also asked what types of functions they directed specifically toward the use of excessive force. Counseling, noted above as the intervention used most often, was also used to respond to excessive force more frequently than were other functions. Of particular significance is the limited amount of training specifically directed to excessive force and the low level of monitoring. The breakdown of functions is as follows:

  79 percent counseled officers charged with excessive force.
  51 percent covered excessive force in stress management training.
  25 percent conducted training specific to excessive force.
  23 percent monitored behavior for signs of excessive force.

Ellen M. Scrivner, Ph.D., was a Visiting Fellow at the National Institute of Justice. The second phase of her research, now under way, consists of case studies that demonstrate how police departments, working with psychologists, have established model programs to improve their capacity to respond to officers at risk for excessive force. The report of this study will be available through NIJ.

The full report of the research discussed in this Research in Brief, The Role of Police Psychology in Controlling Excessive Force can be obtained from the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS).

Restorative justice is a new framework for the criminal justice system that is rapidly gaining acceptance and support by criminal justice professionals and community groups in Minnesota and across the nation.

The Minnesota Department of Corrections advocates adoption of restorative justice principles and has established a department unit that supports implementation of restorative justice concepts throughout the state.  This statewide effort involves all aspects of the community including schools, churches, courts, corrections and law enforcement agencies, and citizens.

The restorative justice initiative provides education about the philosophical framework of restorative justice to engage the interest and enthusiasm of key stakeholders.

Upon request from agencies or jurisdictions interested in moving toward a more restorative system, the initiative provides technical assistance in designing and implementing applications of restorative justice.

The initiative also creates networks of professionals and community activists to support one another and share accumulating knowledge regarding new practices.

Education is provided through public speaking, training, an annual conference, distribution of written materials, and a newsletter.  Technical assistance is provided through onsite and phone consultation, referrals to state and national experts, research, and skills training.  Networking is promoted through organized special interest meetings, maintenance of a special interest resource list, and phone referrals to interested colleagues.  A statewide advisory council advises the department on restorative justice implementation.

What is restorative justice?

Restorative justice is a philosophical framework, which has been proposed as an alternative to the current way of thinking about crime and criminal justice.  Restorative justice emphasizes the ways in which crime harms relationships in the context of community.  Crime is viewed as a violation of the victim and the community, not a violation of the state.  As a result, the offender becomes accountable to the victim and the community, not the state.

Restorative justice defines accountability for offenders in terms of taking responsibility for actions, and taking action to repair the harm caused to the victim and community.  Restorative justice provides for active participation by the victim, the offender and the community in the process of repairing the fabric of community peace.

As the Twin Cities Star Tribune noted in a July, 1993, editorial, "This vision of justice ... (is) about making things right instead of lamenting what's wrong, cultivating strength rather than perpetuating failure."

A community correction, which has been a primary component of corrections in Minnesota for many years, encompasses many of the restorative justice principles.  Victim services, restitution, community service, face-to-face meetings between victims and offenders and their support systems, victim impact panels, and skill-building classes for offenders are elements of restorative justice.

Expanded role for victims

Under restorative justice, crime victims are offered more opportunities to regain personal power.  Currently, victims frequently feel left out of their own cases except possibly as witnesses.  One of the key developers of restorative justice, criminal justice specialist Howard Zehr, emphasizes that victims have many needs.  They need chances to speak their feelings, experience justice, and are the power restored to them that has been taken away by the offender.  Restorative justice allows for victim involvement in determining how those needs can best be met.

Community participation

The role of the community also changes dramatically under restorative justice.  The entire community bears some responsibility for all its members, including the victim and the offender.  The community is responsible for supporting and assisting victims, holding offenders accountable, and ensuring opportunities for offenders to make amends.  Communities are also responsible for addressing the underlying causes of crime to reduce victimization in the future.

Offender's role

Under the existing criminal justice system that concentrates on legal issues and the possibilities of avoiding punishment, offenders are not required to realize the harm they have done.  They often are not required to do anything to right the wrong they have committed.  Incarceration by itself may be considered a relatively easy sentence compared to the restorative justice approach that holds offenders directly accountable to victims, confronts them with the personal harm they have caused, and requires that they make real amends to the victim and the community.

In the existing system, offenders are in a passive role.  In a restorative justice system, they become active participants in reparation.

Key assumptions

The restorative justice framework is based on the following assumptions:

•   Crime results in injuries to victims, communities and offenders;
•   All parties should be included in the response to crime including the offender, the community, and the victim if they wish;
•   The victim is central to the process of defining the harm and how it might be repaired;
•   Accountability is based on accepting responsibility and repairing the harm done;
• Crime is defined as an act against another person and the community, rather than an act against the state.  The state has an interest in resolving the problem but is not the primary actor.  The offender becomes accountable to the victim and the community, not the state.
•  Restoration or making things right replaces the imposition of punishment for its own sake as the highest priority of the system.  Restitution would become common, not the exception;
•  Results in a restorative justice model are measured not by how much punishment was inflicted, but by how much reparation was achieved;
• Crime control rests primarily with the social system.  The criminal justice system can have only a marginal impact on the level of crime because it can only respond to crime after it occurs;
•   Offenders are accountable for their individual choices, but communities are also accountable for the conditions, which may exist that contribute to crime.

A 1991 statewide public opinion survey asked residents about their support for the underlying concepts of restorative justice.  By large margins, respondents expressed an interest in participating in victim/offender mediation, chose restitution over jail time for a burglary sentence, and supported prevention efforts over prison as an effective way to reduce crime.

According to the Minnesota Citizens Council on Crime and Justice, the survey results suggest that the public will support a restorative justice model that emphasizes repairing the harm done by a crime, encourages face-to-face accountability to the victim and community where appropriate, and recognizes that crime control rests primarily outside the criminal justice system.

Change possible

Change toward a more restorative response to crime is guided by the following questions:
 How can we increase opportunity for victim involvement in defining the harm and potential repair?
 How can we increase offender awareness of injury to the victim and the community?
 How can we encourage offender acknowledgment of the wrongs of the behavior?
 How can we acknowledge the harm to the victim and confirm that the victim is not responsible for what happened?
 How can the community send messages of disapproval while not banishing offenders?
 How can the community provide opportunities for the offender to repair the harm?
 How can the community be involved in the process of holding offenders accountable?
 How can we ensure that the offender leaves the system more competent to function effectively in the community?
 How can we increase connections between the offender and community members?

Mutual responsibility between individual and community is the loom on which the fabric of community is woven.  Crime represents a failure of responsibility.  Our response to crime needs to emphasize and reestablish mutual responsibility.

What does restorative justice look like in practice?
 

• Support and assistance are provided to victims and families of victims by community volunteers, faith communities, and professional agencies;
•  Restitution is given priority over other financial obligations of the offender;
•  Victim/offender mediation is available for victims who wish to participate;
•  The community provides work opportunities so that offenders can pay restitution to victims;
•  Offenders are engaged in community service projects valued by the community;
•  Treatment programs include components dealing with victim empathy and responsibility as a community member;
•  Offenders face the personal dimension of harm caused by their crime through victim/offender mediation, family group conferencing, sentencing circles, victim panels or community panels;
•  If they wish, victims have the opportunity to help shape the obligations placed on the offender for repairing the harm;
•  The courts and corrections provide annual reports on measures related to reparation;
•  Community members are involved in advisory boards which guide the courts and corrections;
•  Businesses and community organizations work with offenders to reintegrate them into the community as offenders fulfill their obligations;
•  Faith communities sponsor support groups for offenders trying to change life patterns;
•  Offenders leave the corrections system with greater skills than when they entered;
•  Every criminal justice intervention leaves the community stronger than it was before the crime occurred.

The Crime

Two years ago I was at a meeting at a school for "disaffiliated kids" that I helped start.  One day I went out to the parking lot and my car was gone.  None of the kids would say what happened to it -- and I began to feel a little crazy, as I still had a set of keys with me (turns out they were my second set).

I reported it stolen, and about twenty minutes later the police called and said it was impaled on a fence not far from the school -- but there was no evidence of forced entry.  This could have been a big problem, as the insurance company would not pay if the car hadn't been locked.

The Culprits, Identified, Confess

At the time, and 'for my sins', I was foster-parenting a disabled street kid whose father was in jail.  He took it upon himself to find the kids who stole it -- two boys and two girls, all of whom attended the school – and get them to confess.

Within two hours the kids were at my house in tears -- they were fairly 'tough' sixteen-year-olds -- and agreed to come and make statements at the police station with me and a couple of the other adults from the school accompanying them.

[This broke two cardinal 'kids' rules - one is that you never own up to anything, and the second is that you never give information of any kind to police.]

Restorative Justice -- Police-State Style

The case was diverted from the courts and a meeting was set up with the boys and their fathers (the girls were not charged at all, but came up to me on the street, admitted that they were passengers, and apologized), myself, a friend from the school council, a social worker and a policeman.

Both boys had problematic relationships with their fathers - and one had a mother who was dying of cancer at the age of 42.  One father said that he thought that people who stole once should have their hands cut off and twice should have their heads cut off. (He was European!!!) The other just shook his head and said little.

Neither boy could say why they stole the car.  The father who was 'into amputation' had by that time already withdrawn his son from the school as punishment, and the boy was working 12 hours per day driving a truck.  The boy accepted this as a suitable outcome.  I wasn't so sure, but he hasn't been in any more trouble.

The other boy had already been through Family Group Conferencing four times -- after the fifth, it's court and probably a custodial sentence.

[NOTE:  Lois is referring here to the 'Wagga Wagga' (Australian) Model of FGC used in this case, the 'scripted' type being promoted in the States by RealJustice, and which -- unlike true Restorative Justice methods – is frequently 'facilitated' by police officers, sometimes even in uniform.  The original FGC is a Maori (indigenous New Zealand peoples') method.  Watch and see how this particular 'facilitator' departs from the 'Wagga Wagga' script. -- JW]

The policeman gave the boy a grilling big time.  I hated every minute of it - I felt that the humiliation and blaming was totally counterproductive and as it was being done on my behalf, I felt ashamed, let alone the boy.

The policeman remarked that he (the boy) had been up before him (the policeman) before, hadn't he?  The boy said yes.  And the policeman asked him "... and what happened then?"  The boy said "I called you a dickhead."  The policeman said "And what happened then?" The boy said "You sent me to court."

The policeman looked triumphant, as if he had won a power game - but I for one thought he had fulfilled the boy's diagnosis.  The policeman then asked me why I wasn't giving the boy a hard time.  I said that we had had our confrontation on the day of the offence, that I knew he felt bad about it and that anyway I knew he was in a terrible situation, with his mother dying.

The policeman said that he was not interested in the boy's problems, we were here to talk about his crimes.  It is my belief that this particular statement on the policeman's part negated any good that that conference did, and I believe what is missing from many such conferencing procedures is a real appreciation for the social and emotional situation of the kid.

Let's put adults aside for the moment - it's more complicated, as are situations of bodily harm to another.  These kids have been blamed (and usually battered) in the home, in schools and in institutions since birth.  What's the point of more blame?  Blame and responsibility are different - and the kids know it, even if adults don't.

Restorative Justice -- School Style

The school had its own process.  Ex-students, parents and current students came to a big meeting to discuss the issue - and my foster child's father was allowed to "attend" the meeting via conference phone -- this man is highly respected in the school for his devotion to his kids and is known to some of the boys via visits to the prison.

After the school had discussed the issue and the usual things said – how could they do this to someone who'd helped them, etc. -- the prisoner asked to speak to each of the boys over the phone privately.  Both boys listened intently and soon tears were streaming down their faces.  I don't know what was said, but I know that any healing that happened, happened in those five minutes.

It was also healing for my foster child - here was his father, whom he adores, helping his friends, whom he had had a large part in diverting from incarceration.

Epilogue

The second boy's mother died soon afterwards - and I ended up with another foster child for awhile.  He was easier to live with by far than others I've looked after, but after about nine months, I had to make him leave for breaking in and stealing from me, then lying about it.  He's still alive and still outside goal - I hope he's OK.

When people ask me how I can forgive this stuff - all I can think is that a car is a piece of tin - how can it compare to a child?

I also am now aware that the general population cannot understand why a child is not grateful, when so many adults have hurt, rejected and abused him/her - why should they turn around on a dime because of one encounter?

You've got to walk the walk with adolescents - and it might be for years - not accepting abuse, but never fully shutting the door.

I'm actually grateful - these and other young people have taught me so much - what it's like to be on the streets, the appalling abuses which occur from apparently responsible adults, the paucity of diversionary services and above all the willingness to blame the offenders - even the young offender for having been born poor.

I'm not trained in Restorative Justice (Oh, yes you are! -- JW), but I believe that there has to be a community for the conferencing process to "stick" - and so many young people do not have one - which is why organizations like our schools are so important.

With the mutual organizational credo "Live an honest, drug-free life in fellowship and solidarity with others," the Swedish project 'CRIS' (or in Swedish, CRIS -- Criminals' Return Into Society) was founded in Stockholm in October of 1997.

A non-profit, non-political organization, not affiliated with any religious group, CRIS' main purpose is to help recently released prisoners and their families.  Individuals who have themselves experienced drug abuse and prison institutionalization -- but who now live clean and lead law-abiding lives -- form the core of the CRIS organization.  These 300+ participants have created a future-oriented mutual network or therapeutic community.

CRIS hopes and intends to spread their program by gaining access to prisons and other institutions, in order that they may generate further interest among those people most concerned -- the criminal justice system and, of course, the clientele themselves.

Located at Bondegatan 30 in Stockholm, Sweden, CRIS' facilities are open between 4:00 pm and 10:00 pm each day.  Here, one can watch video, play billiards, study acting, work out at the Star Fight Gym, go horseback riding or practice Yoga.  Other projects at Bondegatan include creative workshops, music groups, video editing, community radio, a recording studio, diving courses, mountain touring, and workshops in spirituality, etc. CRIS hopes to establish similar centers all over Sweden in the near future.

Institutional Support: Outreach and CRIS 'Intake'

Program outreach -- visiting institutions and meeting with prospective clients -- is an important CRIS activity.  Happy and dedicated, CRIS' volunteer outreach workers 'paint a very attractive picture' of what CRIS makes available if clients are willing to make necessary changes in their lifestyles.

Program intake -- clients are typically greeted and picked up outside prison upon their release, taken out for drug- and alcohol-free celebrations, and then provided with a a cellular phone and a patron/matron whom they know they can reach around-the-clock.  Thus CRIS offers the newly released prisoner an unusual hospitality, camaraderie, and a readily available sense of belonging to a network of honest fellow friends-in-recovery.

CRIS' current programmatic projects are as follows:

Adult Curricula

The 'Probation Pool' -- Peer Probation and Restorative Justice

This activity consists of peer counselors -- people with so-called 'shady' pasts who have since rehabilitated them to the extent that they are able to act as probation officers certified by the correctional authorities (KVS).  The idea is that such counselors are, in many respects, better equipped to reach out to their peers than professional probation officers.

It seems to work, partly because the supervising counselors are able to take certain empathic "shortcuts" when communicating with their clients -- being ex-prisoners themselves, they know how it feels from hard experience to be in their clients' situation, and the clients know this, so there is more chance for a constructive bond to form between them.  Individuals identified as qualified for such service are assigned to counsel others who have recently been released from institutions.  Social services agencies might also employ adult counselors from this group for work with teenagers and children.

CRIS Probation Pool counselors are trained by Gunnar Bergström, a well-known criminologist.  This is a new program -- once it is in full operation, there will be monthly meetings to discuss any problems that may arise, plus perhaps some interesting lecturers, etc.
 
'Patron/Matron' Activities
Some persons in the Probation Pool are not considered by the Criminal Authorities to be eligible to act as probation officers.  CRIS strives to include them in complementary work, on the belief that they may be nevertheless able to serve as what they call 'patrons' for CRIS clients.

Being a 'patron' is like an ongoing 'buddy system' -- it means being available 24 hours a day.  CRIS participants have observed that – once released from prison -- they were not prone to destructive behavior during their professional probation counselors' working hours, but instead, negative thoughts and tendencies to re-offend would arise at night, when they were alone and had no one to talk to.  Consequently CRIS provides some patrons and their clients with cellular phones, so that they are able to reach one another at all times.

CRIS' idea is that the Patron/Matron *clients* will eventually will be allowed to act as probation officers and participate in all the activities of the probation pool.

Activities for Women
Women with criminal and/or drug abuse backgrounds constantly have feelings of shame and guilt.  They feel inadequate in regard to their roles as women and mothers etc.  They carry a burden within themselves which they don¹t allow others to see.

Therefore CRIS' founders believe it is important that women have a meeting place of their own where they can get together and discuss any problems they may have, and perhaps gain a deeper understanding of how others have dealt with similar problems.  A CRIS group for women has been established -- actually, almost 40% of CRIS' mutual participants are women.

Youth Curriculum

The 'Assessing the Consequences' Project
CRIS' goal is to carry out this project on a trial basis for one year (1/1/99 - 1/1/2001) in hope that it will become permanent thereafter.

The idea is to take young, violent criminals that are cared for by the social services, approved schools, or on probation, and show them that 'A little bit of violence = serious consequences'.  We would also like to show them that the victims of violent crime are people -- not just some unidentified 'dumb ass' or 'fuck head', as they might typically call them.

Youthful offenders will be assigned to peer counselors who, in their own past, have committed a similar crime.  Together, counselor and youthful client will meet, discuss the youngster¹s problems, and figure out how to work them out.

For example, if youngster¹s violent tendencies are drug- or gang-related, someone from a similar background will be assigned to counsel them.

'Assessing the Consequences' counselors start by telling their clients their own stories so that they have someone to identify with and relate to.

The next phase is arranging a meeting between the client and one or more victims of violent crimes.  Victims tell their stories of the incident, and how it has affected their lives afterwards.  This enables the student to see and understand the impact of crime upon its victims, and hopefully reminds them, that they, too, might be are susceptible to becoming victims of violent crime, given the kind of environment they are in.

The third event in the client's CRIS experience is to visit neuro-surgical/forensic medical wards and anti-violence groups in order to demonstrate the ultimate consequences of violence.  Österåker or Kumla prisons will also be visited, in order to show the student his possible future home 'on the inside'.

Finally, professional probation counselors will perform follow-up evaluations of the project's clients' progress, and even participate in various CRIS activities with them.  A funding application for this project has been submitted to the Ideas for Life Foundation.

Family Curriculum

Father?Child Center
The Father?Child Center's aim is to create a secure and supportive environment where fathers may begin building stable and loving relationships with their children.
Many CRIS clients have a child which they¹ve neglected, resulting in feelings of guilt and insecurity.  It takes a lot of courage to initiate a parent - child relationship.  Most CRIS clients initially lack knowledge and experience of how to act as parents.  Many fear and avoid taking responsibility as parents, thus possibly creating the foundation for a new generation of 'criminals'.
During the first week of August 1998, CRIS launched their Father-Child Center activities by arranging a fathers' and children’s camp.  This proved beneficial all around, as fathers and children enjoyed each other's company, shared growth experiences, and better learned to identify with one another in their respective situations.

CRIS plans to continue such activities on a weekly basis in their facility in Stockholm with father-child swimming, soccer (football), and other ways for fathers to newly interact with and support their children.

There is presently an enormous interest in this particular project.
 
CRIS Outreach and Public Education in Schools

A productive approach for preventing violence, drug use, and other criminal behavior is to visit schools and tell our youngsters that there is nothing cool about using drugs, but instead that it often leads to guilt, shame, and humiliation, and that those who deny this fact are not being honest. CRIS has formed a 16-member information committee to spread this important message.  They have offered our services to several schools in the Stockholm area, and will soon receive funding for this project.

Curricula for All CRIS Participants

Theater Group
CRIS has a theater group led by actor Tomas Laustiola.  The purpose of this group is to show CRIS participants that they possess various means of self-expression and creative 'release' that they can make use of.  Singing and dancing is also taught in this group, which currently has 28 participants.

Sports and Leisure
Recently, a CRIS team played soccer (football) against 'Clean House', a team from Denmark, and the game attracted a huge audience!  This was truly rewarding and fun -- a kind of 'partying' without drugs!  CRIS participants have also played in an inter-company football league, and had two teams participating in 'Gökottelopet', a non-professional running competition.

Participants work out for free at the Star Fight Gym -- this includes weight-lifting and "Boxercize" (some CRIS folks engage in this sport) at the gym at Östgotagatan 11B in Stockholm.

For this particular project, CRIS is seeking money from the Swedish KBA (Committee for Crime Prevention).

Here's what the Justice Policy Institute's Vince Schiraldi had to say about it:

"Peter Elikann has pulled together a vast amount of information into a provocative book that makes a powerful argument for a sensible approach to juvenile justice.  He has done a tremendous job of debunking the myth that all, or even most, of the kids who churn through America's juvenile justice system are irredeemable superpredators.  His ideas warrant consideration by serious policymakers and reformers."

Peter is a longtime member of the CERJ list, and credits the folks in the Campaign for Equity-Restorative Justice with supplying him with important information for this book.  Peter's advocacy for equitable justice systems is a strong theme in the book.  Here are Peter's fifteen public policy recommendations, with which he concludes the book.  #6 is most directly relevant to the Campaign for Equity-Restorative Justice (CERJ), though they all are, really:

1.  Anything at all that can be done to shore up and strengthen the American family.  This includes more jobs with a living wage for the working poor, housing and access to services such as counseling for families in trouble, parent support groups, family crisis intervention, parenting and family skills training and permanent planning for foster children;

2.  Interventions in the lives of young people at a very young age, even as early as prior to birth through such things as parenting classes to their mothers and fathers along with adequate prenatal care to the mother;

3.  No automatic transfer of juvenile offenders to adult courts and adult prisons no matter how monstrous the crime.  A hearing should be held where the prosecution must prove to the judge that there is almost no reasonable likelihood that the child can be rehabilitated;

4.  No minor should ever be held in an adult lockup, jail, or prison in sight or sound, let alone physical contact with adult prisoners.  Aside from the brutality that is frequently inflicted upon the children, spending time with older, more violent criminals is akin to a violence training school.  We will all be more endangered upon their release;

5.  The remaining large juvenile reform or training schools should be abandoned for smaller, community-based rehabilitation centers where youthful offenders can receive education, job training, and counseling.  These have proven much more effective in cutting down the re-arrest rate after release;

6.  Whenever possible there should be alternative to incarceration programs for non-violent youthful offenders where the youngsters can go to school, perform rigorous community service, participate in groups and receive either substance abuse or psychological counseling if necessary.  These are dramatically cheaper, but more importantly they also cut down the recidivism rate and make us safer.  Additionally, children should not be jailed for age status offenses such as being a truant or runaway.  Services, rather than jail, will be more effective;

7.  Keep schools open all afternoon until early evening with programs for which there is no charge.  These include recreation, tutoring, mentoring, and cultural activities.  Since this is the peak crime-committing period of the day for juveniles -- after school, but before parents come home from work -- this will keep youngsters motivated and busy.  It will help the public remain safe;

8.  Prohibit the death penalty for children;

9.  Provide adequate day care for children.  Ideally, very young children should be with a parent.  But, if, realistically, that is not possible, then this is preferable to having them either remain alone or spending too many hours of one's most formative years merely being warehoused in a poor, non stimulating arrangement;

10.  Although adults have a right to own a gun, there should be childproof locks on all of them; mandatory gun storage laws so no adults will be liable if children get possession of their guns; no semiautomatic or automatic weapons since an offender is able to kill too many people before he is stopped, and tougher gun registration laws which still permit people to own them;

11.  Faith-based programs giving children some kind of direction, spiritual purpose and guidance nave also proven to lower the rate of youth crime;

12.  When students bring weapons to school or engage in particularly assaultive behavior … the student should be removed from the school, but not just sent out on his own.  He or she should go into an intensive treatment program specifically designed for weapons-toting juveniles.  This is not some liberal idea.  Police overwhelmingly back it because where it's been used so far, it has been effective and the recidivism rates of these troubled, dangerous children went into a freefall;

13.  Community policing, where individual police officers become known fixtures in the neighborhood and work together with the community, has been responsible for astonishing drops in crime.  Ironically, this crime reduction occurs without more arrests or incarcerations.  Community policing is cheaper and makes us safer because it results in crime prevention -- not merely after-the-fact punishments;

14.  Strategies must be developed to anticipate and intercept those youths who may not be suspected as potentially violent, yet commit horrifically brutal acts such as the recent infamous series of mass murders in schools.  Despite the tremendous coverage of these savage acts, they are extremely rare.  Still, after each of these incidents, it is almost always acknowledged that these youthful killers actually left numerous clues, whether on their bedroom walls or in the threats they made in the schoolyard.  Parents must be educated to recognize these clues, and schools must do the same and move quickly;

15.  Mentoring programs, both public and private, should be the cornerstone of youth crime prevention since, although the family is best, if that is not possible, other supportive adults must be present in the lives of the young.

Peter Elikann's 'Superpredators -- The Demonization of Our Children by the Law" is published by Perseus Books, Priced at $26.95,

Work together to reinvent justice using methods that are fair; which conserve, restore and even create harmony, equity and good will in society
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