Open AccessCROWD CONTROL: Can our public order police still deliver?
Author(s) -
Bilkis Omar
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
sa crime quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2413-3108
pISSN - 1991-3877
DOI - 10.17159/2413-3108/2006/v0i15a1001
Subject(s) - order (exchange) , control (management) , public order , criminology , crime control , component (thermodynamics) , political science , business , public relations , public administration , law and economics , law , sociology , economics , management , criminal justice , finance , physics , thermodynamics
From the heavy-handed crowd control under apartheid to the abusive actions of the Internal Stability Division during the early 1990s, public order policing in South Africa has been steeped in controversy. However, things changed after 1994 when this component of the police was radically transformed. With a decline in demand for their specialised services, and a need for more resources, the units have been reorganised into Area Crime Combating Units (ACCUs). While no doubt helping to reduce crime, it is unclear whether the SAPS still has the capacity to manage the increasing number of volatile crowd situations.