Good Cops? Bad Cops? Assessing the South African Police Service

The South African Police Service is often a target of criticism, more often than not stemming from heightened public emotions regarding the high levels of crime in South Africa. Using the concept of democratic policing as its basis, a previous assessment attempts to evaluate the SAPS against a set of 39 measures. Providing an organization-wide view of the SAPS, the assessment highlights both positive and negative aspects of the SAPS, and provides a detailed set of recommendations. The assessment is intended to support democratic oversight of the police by directing attention towards the main issues that should be addressed by oversight bodies.