Crime Prevention Role

WHY CRIME PREVENTION IS AN IMPOSSIBLE MANDATE:
INTRODUCTION:
The dilemmas faced by the police are summarized well by Bayley (1994:3) the police do not prevent crime. This is one of the best kept secrets of modern life. Experts know it, the police know it, but the public does not know it. Yet the police pretend that they are society’s best defense against crime and continually argue that if they are given more resources, especially personnel they will be able to protect communities against crime.
DEFINING POLICE AND POLICING:
The Collins Concise Dictionary (2001:1159) defines police and policing as follows:
Police (noun): the organized civil force of a state, concerned with maintenance of law and order
Police (verb): to regulate, control, or keep in order by means of a police or similar force
Policing (noun): the policies, techniques and practice of a police force in keeping order, preventing crime
DEFINITION OF CRIME PREVENTION:
The definition of crime prevention according to Lab (2007:23) is crime prevention entails any action designed to reduce the actual level of crime and / or the perceived fear of crime.
This basis here is that the prevention of crime was seen to be the most important task of the police. It was the “selling point” for Sir Robert Peels effort to change the Metropolitan Police Act (1829) through the UK Parliament. Burger criticizes the dictum in post modern society. He says Burger (2007:30) for example, to render it impossible for anyone to commit a crime, is not realistically achievable.
The prevention of crimes was seen to be the most important tasks of the police. According to Burger (2007) crime prevention cannot be achieved by the police only. This is an impossible mandate for the Police. Yet we have embraced it in South Africa. Burger (2007:30) to render it impossible for anyone to commit a crime is not realistically achievable.
According to Burger (2007:42) crime prevention became impossibility a very long time ago but people did not want to accept it and re-visit the role of the police, especially its crime prevention role.
Burger indicates that the role of the police not been able to combat the crime makes the members despondent and a loss of self confidence and a decline in morale. This is true as the General and senior management put high demands on the station commanders to reduce crime in their area even when they know this is an impossible mandate and the commanders do all they can but the crime does not decrease and they then receive poor performance ratings and this causes the managers to stress and they then take their frustration out on the member on the ground performing his duty to the best of his ability and then both the member and the manager become despondent and depressed and you then have a poor performering member.
Crime prevention according to Burger (2007:42) is not only the work of the police but of justice system and the way they punish offenders, the law is too lenient on offender. The offenders are receiving lesser sentences and so this is not a deterrent for the public and they therefore continue to commit crime.
Burger (2007:42) explains that preventing crime is not only the police job also politicians as they are also part of the problem. If the parties in charge of the Province would start spending money on things that count like better education, housing, lightening on the roads in the townships, cutting down of trees and bushes that are going on vacant land close to schools and in remote areas, better service delivery in poor communities, by the politicians of this country working together to improve these conditions in the poor communities and by them cutting down the bushes and maintaining these vacant land or using it to build most needed houses this would prevent rapes and murders of children, during 2011 in the Western Cape it was proven that a vacant land in Delft that was not been maintained by the government of this province was been used to rape young girls and murder some of them, it was found that offenders where abducting the girls in other areas and then coming and raping them in the bushes and dumping them there. If these field where cleaned up then there would be a decrease in the crime. Placing more lightening in the townships especially Khayelitsha has decreased the crime in the area so Burger’s statement is true, by the government just providing the basic needs to the poorer communities it will help to decrease the crime in the areas.
If teachers started paying attention to the children at the school and discipline the children who do not behave, if the teachers would take back their schools and instill discipline in the children we would have less children dropping out of school and more children wanting to make something of themselves and not become gangsters as they see this as a luxury life and nobody is showing them a different route that can be taken. Why I say this should be the teachers job is because many children come from gang areas and many family members are gangsters or on drugs or been in or are in prison so they don’t know any better as nothing better is taught to them at home, so I believe it is the teachers responsibility to show thos children that there is something better in life than what they have and wanting something better for themselves is achievable.
The churches can also play a major role in preventing crime and help making this a possible mandate for the police.
Television can also play a positive role in the children future lives if they would start showing more positive movies and stop portraying the crime lord’s as good.
Altbeker (2007:131) also explains that we are in favor of a crime prevention approach in South Africa. The author also explains that with the increase in unemployment, poverty, growing material needs and the abuse of alcohol and drugs it will be an impossible mandate for the police to decrease crime on its own.
CONCLUSION:
According to Burger (2007) and Altbeker (2007) everybody seems to believe that the police sole purpose is to prevent crime alone and the police seem to believe this is the case to but what if they and everybody else are wrong and crime prevention is a country’s effort to reduce / prevent crime?
In my opinion I believe that Burger (2007) is right crime prevention by the police alone is an impossible mandate. I believe that everybody should do there bit to help prevent crime.

LIST OF REFERENCES:
ALTBEKER, A 2007. A country at war with itself. SA’s crisis of crime, Cape Town: Jonathan Ball
Burger, J. 2007. Strategic perspectives on crime and policing in South Africa. Pretoria: Van Schaik
Lab, S.P. 2010 Crime prevention approaches, practices and evaluations. 7th ed. New York: Anderson Publishing.

References: ALTBEKER, A 2007. A country at war with itself. SA’s crisis of crime, Cape Town: Jonathan Ball Burger, J. 2007. Strategic perspectives on crime and policing in South Africa. Pretoria: Van Schaik Lab, S.P. 2010 Crime prevention approaches, practices and evaluations. 7th ed. New York: Anderson Publishing.