Locally Accountable Police departments

Police forces across SSA are generally viewed with suspicion, fear and derision. They are largely seen as non-representative instruments of authority- a force apart from society itself.In further examination of the institutional decentralisation theme we look at ,a paper by Gareth Newham which examines the implementation of local civilian oversight of police forces in South Africa. It came up with a number recommendations which include:

• Developing training and other resources to enhance the understanding and practice of civilian oversight of police agencies at local level;

• Ensuring that independent evaluations are conducted on key aspects of MPD performance and conduct;

• Ensuring that local level oversight committees include a focus on the policies, procedures and systems of MPDs to receive and deal with public complaints of police misconduct;

• Inviting feedback from various stakeholders as to their perceptions and experiences of the MPDs;

• Assisting in clarifying the role of the Civilian Oversight Committees and then capacitating them to play this role.