Pretoria - Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa has opened the Mangaung 10111 Command Centre in a bid to bridge the gap between victims of crime and the police.
Speaking on Wednesday during a launch ceremony in Heidedal in the Free State, Mthethwa said one of the more prominent complaints from communities was the slow police response time on calls logged with 10111 centres.
He emphasised the importance of the SAPS transformation efforts, warning that they cannot begin to improve policing and providing better services if they do not drive the transformation agenda of the institution.
The department is currently in the process of reviewing the White Paper on Safety and Security, primarily to ensure that the SAPS turns into functional machinery that is continuously improving on its deliverables.
Mthethwa said this speaks to a transformation process that is results-driven, effective and responsive to the safety needs of society.
"As we emphasised in the draft White Paper, we stressed that transformation within the SAPS in the broader sense must be aimed at changing the internal police environment and culture into a professional, representative, efficient, effective, transparent and accountable service. It must be a service which upholds and protects the fundamental rights of citizens whilst executing its mandate in accordance with the Constitution and the needs of the community.
"Community-orientated policing must speak to the manner in which police operate and how they understand and engage with the communities they serve. Equally this philosophy must recognise that policing is not something done to people but rather policing is something that is done with people, and to achieve these, systems such as 10111 centres are important," Mthethwa said.
He said the opening of the 10111 Command Centre must speak and support the department's triple-C approach which includes: the need for greater command and control within the police, the need for greater co-ordination and improving both internal and external communication within SAPS.
The minister stressed that management was not only about issuing instructions but also managing how these instructions are implemented.
"An effective station commander must be on the ground, overseeing a station daily; being in touch with the communities, CPFs and importantly, leading by example.
"Police must ensure that once they arrest criminals, communicate to society that such scoundrels are now behind bars. Failure to do so, leads to anxiety, strained-relations and perceptions that police are ineffective, when in fact they are effective."
He also noted positive results on the piloted a flagship 10111 project, in partnership with Business against Crime South Africa launched two years ago in Midrand, Gauteng explaining that the idea at the time was to ensure that as they build 10111 command centres anywhere in the country, they benchmark their centres with a clear blueprint plan.
Some of the notable outcomes resulting from the intervention included assessments and quicker turn-around response calls, effective monitoring systems and significant financial savings to the department.
"Lessons learnt have assisted in improved efficiency, timeous and better management of calls when society reports crimes to the police. Through qualitative management of our 10111 centres, we can improve performance putting in place a human resource complement that is well-capacitated and evaluated on a regular basis," said Mthethwa.
He appealed to society to ensure that calls channelled to the 10111 Command Centres serve a purpose, warning that if they continuously receive prank or non-police related calls, this will not only cause unnecessary delays to the system but keep criminals on the loose.
