During the very first-ever Police Summit convened at Kempton Park, Business Development Officer for Business Against Crime South Africa (BACSA) Roelof Viljoen emphasised public-private partnerships in upgrading law enforcement capability. Viljoen indicated the summit as the necessary forum where stakeholder inputs are to be sought for upgrading and building the policing service.

The objective of the summit is to get stakeholder input into recommendations for a more efficient police role,” Viljoen said.

He highlighted BACSA’s emphasis on securing constant betterment through the application of private sector skills.

“Business contributes by contributing to the implementation of constant betterment by providing private sector skills,” he said.

One of the key areas that BACSA is working on is the integration of technology solutions for automating the police operations.

“Some solutions are technology implementations. Care is taken to automate certain processes that assist the core business,” Viljoen said.

He also stressed the importance of change management so that the acceptance and sustainability of the technological advancements are realised.

“Sometimes there is a requirement to clarify roles, responsibility, and scope of the stakeholders,” added Viljoen, highlighting that it was essential to set quality expectations for all processes and not duplicate efforts.

Such coordination between BACSA and law enforcement agencies has given rise to several effective programs aimed at combating crime more effectively. A good example of this is the 2019 Eyes and Ears Initiative (E2) as a joint venture between BACSA, the South African Police Service (SAPS), and private security providers. The initiative is a critical communications bridge that enables real-time information sharing among the private security industry and law enforcement agencies in enhancing situational awareness and response capability.

Viljoen described the importance of such collaborations, stating, “Operationally relevant intelligence is securely fed in real-time to SAPS and its other law enforcement partners. Crime prevention units have controlled access to the intelligence, enabling them to respond more quickly and strategically to extortion incidents.”

The summit also dwelled on citizen involvement in crime prevention. There were demands for the empowerment of Community Policing Forums (CPFs) to create interfaces between the police and the communities so that there would be collaboration between the communities and the police. This was intended to enhance public safety and the trust of communities in the police.

Furthermore, the recent collaboration agreement among SAPS, Gauteng Province, and the City of Johannesburg was quoted as a significant step towards unified crime combating. The agreement focuses on coordinating resources and embracing a new model of policing for increased efficiency and effectiveness.

The Police Summit at Kempton Park is the perfect platform on which stakeholders gather to exchange their strategies for boosting police efficiency, combining technology-based remedies, and advocating people-in-politics partnerships to guarantee effective fighting of crime.