Police commissioners were delighted to discover that actually doing the most basic element of their job might have an effect on the rate of violent crime
In a groundbreaking move, a recent pilot project in Tafelsig, Mitchell’s Plain, a suburb of Cape Town, has demonstrated the effectiveness of hot spot policing. This approach involves deploying police resources based on data analysis to target areas where they can have the greatest impact on crime reduction.
This practice has been a standard strategy known to police as early as the first modern police force established by Robert Peel in London in 1832, but this basic knowledge has eluded South African constabularies for 30 years.
During the pilot, which lasted just over two months in 2023, police in Tafelsig conducted brief, frequent, and unpredictable patrols in a small high-crime area, focusing on days and times when crime was most likely to occur. This strategy, based on international evidence, aimed to maximize the deterrent effect of police presence. The results were significant, with a 20% decline in violent crime recorded in Tafelsig.
SAPS Cape Town District Commissioner, Maj Gen Vincent Beaton, praised the initiative, stating, ‘The ISS helped us to try something new and measure its impact... The overall effect was to make communities safer.’ Encouraged by the success of the pilot, the approach will now be implemented at four more high-crime police stations in Cape Town.
The pilot project involved collaboration between SAPS, the City of Cape Town’s Safety and Security Directorate, and the Western Cape Province’s Department of Police Oversight and Community Safety. A team of around 30 people, including operational commanders and crime analysts, was guided by the ISS through a tailored two-month course developed by the Cambridge Centre for Evidence-Based Policing.
Regular reviews of crime data and adherence to the plan were conducted using various sources, including SAPS vehicle location information and data from Cape Town’s Emergency Policing and Incident Command. Anine Kriegler, Senior Researcher at the ISS, emphasized the impact of hot spot policing, noting that it drives more efficient, data-driven deployment, which boosts morale among officers.
The success of the pilot has set a new standard for evidence-based law enforcement in South Africa, marking a significant step towards more effective and targeted policing strategies.
