Chapter 3

GENERAL INFORMATION ON POLICE AGENCIES IN THE SADC REGION

The first question in the survey did not relate directly to organised crime, but sought to elicit information about the size of the various police agencies in the SADC region. The objective was to obtain comparative information that would provide an indication of the resource constraints under which some of the Southern African police agencies have to work.

Relative sizes of police agencies

Respondents were asked what the total number was of police officers serving in the particular country’s police service on 31 December 1999 (see table 2).

The figures show that there are significant variations in the population:police officer ratios among SADC member countries. The ratios in Botswana (1:270) and Swaziland (1:433) compare reasonably well with those in some developed countries such as Germany (1:315), Ireland (1:326), and New Zealand (1:337).15 However, when account is taken of the high ratios in countries such as Zambia (1:737), Lesotho (1:897), and Tanzania (1:1 289), the degree to which the police in these countries are overstretched becomes apparent. In considering the population:police ratios in most Southern African countries, account must also be taken of the enormous surface areas that are involved, the long boundaries and coastlines, the extremely limited resources, and population compositions which include higher percentages of younger men than in developed countries.

The wide variations in population:police ratio in the SADC region provide a compelling case for regional co-operation in combating organised crime. The sharing of resources, also during joint operations, contributes towards a better utilisation of regional capacity to address a regional problem.

The relevance of these ratios for organised crime in the region lies in their indication of a country’s ability to undertake general policing functions that impact on organised crime, such as the effective policing of borders against transnational organised criminal activity. Tanzania, for example, covers an area larger than the combined area of Germany, France and the Netherlands. Police authorities in Tanzania have warned that the East African region, of which it is part, has been targeted by transnational organised criminal groups as a major transhipment centre for a variety of narcotics and that this conduit for illicit drugs connects America, Europe and other areas in the world.16 With a coastline of 1 424 kilometres and land borders with neighbouring countries Burundi, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia totalling 3 402 kilometres, the Tanzanian police face an overwhelming task to secure the country’s borders and coastline against smuggling and other criminal activities.

The ability of the police to combat organised crime effectively is clearly not necessarily directly related to the size of the police agency in a particular country. Thorough training, the effective use of crime intelligence, proper equipment, and a determination to focus on organised crime can enable even an otherwise overstretched police agency to make significant inroads into organised crime. In general, however, organised criminal groups are experts in identifying low-risk environments for their operations. One of the indicators of a low-risk environment may well be a population:police ratio that implies a police service severely handicapped by a lack of resources. Many of the developing and least developed countries in Africa and elsewhere face this problem. There is no short-term solution to address this issue.

Strength of criminal investigation components

A number of police agencies declined to reveal the strength of the criminal investigation components of their countries’ police service. Their reasons are unknown, but have to be respected.

The question (2) asked how many members of the country’s police service were allocated to the investigation of criminal cases, for example, serving in a criminal investigation department (CID), as well as in the detective branch.

It would not serve much purpose to consider the responses of those police agencies that did supply figures, in the light of the degree of sensitivity around this information. This would only result in a very incomplete regional picture.

Budgets for criminal investigations

The purpose of the question was to identify an important element of the resource constraints within which police agencies have to operate in Southern Africa. The thinking behind this question, as well as the one on the strength of criminal investigation components was that the responses may make it possible to identify how much is spent on individual detectives per year in each of the respondent countries. This may have resulted in the identification of those police agencies with the greatest need and on which various forms of assistance could have a significant impact. The question tried to establish what the total amount of money was that was allocated in the 1999 financial year to the police components that investigate criminal cases, for example, the CID or the detective branch.

Four of the nine respondents did not respond to this question and one indicated that the information was not available. For the reasons mentioned above, it will be inappropriate only to consider the responses of the four police agencies that provided information. No inferences could be drawn from such an analysis.