Africa

OPINION: After significant optimism about the reform of policing in South Africa following the first democratic elections in 1994, the country’s police service has becoming increasingly politicised and under the control of ANC insiders, argues the University of Pretoria’s Dr Ivor Chipkin, with devastating results both for public trust and crime rates.

OPINION: Recent research by Dr Azwihangwisi Judith Mphidi of Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria highlights concerns over the levels of corruption and moral degradation across the Tshwane Metropolitan Police Department; in this article she sets out the main findings from that research, as well as the steps that need to be taken to reform the Department policing South Africa’s capital.

ANALYSIS: Terrorist attacks targeting police officers in Nigeria resulted in the deaths of more than 900 officers between 2009 and 2022; Dr Usman A. Ojedokun, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology at Nigeria’s University of Ibadan, looks at the statistics behind the attacks, the groups carrying them out, the weapons they use, and the lessons to learn from the current trends.

FEATURE: Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the work of AFRIPOL (the African Union Mechanism for Police Co-operation AFRIPOL) – which has a mandate to strengthen co-operation between the police agencies of the African Union (AU) – and its recent successes in collaborating with INTERPOL to tackle terrorism in East Africa.

FEATURE: Dr Usman A. Ojedokun, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria, explores some of the context and contributing factors to the continuing problem of police impersonation in Nigeria, the impact it has on both the community and the Nigeria Police Force, and what steps can be taken to tackle the issue.

OPINION: Protest in Kenya has often been criminalised, leading to brutal police crackdowns as seen in recent protests against the cost of living in Kenya, and an attempt by the government to introduce new taxes, where police responded with live bullets and teargas, reportedly leaving more than a dozen people killed and hundreds injured; Dr Kamau Wairuri, who has studied the policing of protests in Kenya, explains what contributes to the violence witnessed during public demonstrations.

FEATURE: In January the Global Law Enforcement & Public Health Association (GLEPHA) published a series of reports as part of the ‘Envisaging the future of policing and public health’ project, covering a range of topics including harm reduction, diversion, and violence against women and girls; in the last in a series of seven articles, Policing Insight’s Thomas James looks at GLEPHA’s report on the police response to those in mental health crisis.

FEATURE: Former senior Sussex detective Alison Eaton, and former Cheshire detective Chris Howarth, are working with the Ministry of Defence’s British Peace Support Team (Africa) to deliver ‘train the trainer’ programmes that will help to improve investigative and interviewing skills for officers in sexual and gender-based violence cases in post-conflict countries, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: Last month the Global Law Enforcement & Public Health Association (GLEPHA) published a series of reports as part of the ‘Envisaging the future of policing and public health’ project, covering a range of topics including violence prevention, diversion, and policing mental health; in the third in a series of seven articles, Policing Insight’s Thomas James looks at GLEPHA’s report on working with marginalised communities within Mozambique, Australia and Liberia.

ANALYSIS: Research in Kenya and more widely across Africa has highlighted low public trust in police and a prevailing perception of corruption, and that lack of trust in Kenyan police has been expressed more keenly by those living in urban areas; Professors Kristine Höglund and Emma Elfversson of Uppsala University explore the reasons for the differences between urban and rural communities, the implications for police reform, and what can be done to address the issue.

FEATURE: Drowning in the UK accounts for more accidental fatalities annually than fire deaths in the home or cycling deaths on the road, and in many of these incidents the police are the first responders on scene; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the UK’s Drowning Prevention Strategy, the police response, and the work of the RNLI and others in reducing deaths in and around water.

INTERVIEW: In the latest in a series of interviews with leading figures involved in the research and investigation of organised crime, Policing Insight’s Dr Chris Allen spoke to Dr Eleanor Beevor, Senior Analyst at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime about motorbike trafficking and armed criminals in the Sahel, environmental crime eradication, and how directly supporting people living in crime-affected areas can be transformative.

OPINION: As security has deteriorated in Nigeria, one of the country’s main challenges has become ‘banditry’, with an eight-fold increase in the number of armed robberies, kidnaps and murders between 2018 and 2022; Dr Oluwole Ojewale of the Institute for Security Studies in Senegal believes that a decentralised police force, working in partnership with community activists and the military where required, would be the most effective solution to the problem.

OPINION: South Africa is facing continued growth in violent crime, and reconfigured policing strategies designed to tackle the problem seem to have had little success; Stellenbosch University’s Dr Guy Lamb argues that a more collaborative approach from police working with local communities, and the proper funding and implementation of the country’s Integrated Crime and Violence Prevention Strategy, would be the most effective way forward.

OPINION: The illegal organ trade sporadically hits the national and international headlines, with suggestions that the activity largely takes place underground, carried out by organised criminals; but Assistant Professor and organ trade researcher Frederike Ambagtsheer argues that the reality is far removed from that, involving close collaborations between professionals and the criminals, and requires a broad range of responses.

INTERVIEW: In the latest in a series of interviews with leading figures involved in the research and investigation of organised crime, Policing Insight’s Chris Allen spoke to Alan Edwards, a former Royal Military Police officer and detective chief inspector who now works as a civilian expert specialising in serious organised crime, about the growing pressures of investigating online crime, the potential of the ChildLight initiative, and why law enforcement in the West could and should be doing much more to tackle Africa’s barbaric people traffickers.

INTERVIEW: An EU-funded three-month mentoring scheme is connecting female police officers in The Gambia with experienced colleagues in Thames Valley Police; Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons spoke to Sarah-Jane Bray, who is managing the mentoring programme, about the shared challenges facing female officers, and the strong connections built between officers based more than 3,500 miles apart.

INTERVIEW: In the latest in a series of interviews with leading figures involved in the research and investigation of organised crime, Policing Insight’s Chris Allen spoke to Sheelagh Brady, Co-founder and Chief Security Analyst at SAR Consultancy, about hooliganism in the West Balkans, working for the UN in Nigeria, and the need to understand the motivation of organised criminals.

FEATURE: People exploited by the human trafficking and organ trafficking industries are often regarded as victims of organised crime, but the reality can be much more complex; Policing Insight’s Keith Potter looks at examples of poverty-driven trafficking and victims becoming victimisers, which were highlighted during the recent 24-hour Conference on Global Organised Crime.

FEATURE: New Kenyan President William Ruto has already ordered a police unit suspected of extrajudicial killings to be disbanded; but East Africa crime, justice and policing specialist Professor Naomi van Stapele argues that, far from representing genuine reform, the move simply allows the new leader to bring in his own trusted officers in a country where police killings are systemic.

ANALYSIS: In the latest in a series of articles examining the intricacies of the cocaine industry, Policing Insight’s Chris Allen takes a look at how the influx of billions of pounds in drug money is impacting the economy of Western African nations that are increasingly acting as transit countries.

OPINION: With more than 100 reported in rapes in South Africa every day, sexual violence across the country is seemingly endemic; Professor Amanda Gouws of Stellenbosch University believes that attempts by police and Government to deliver quick fixes – such as the recent ANC policy calling for the chemical castration of rapists – are destined to fail, with long-term cultural and criminal justice measures the only real option.

OPINION: Despite the high murder rate in Kenya’s capital city of Nairobi, few cases ever make it to the courts; Dr Douglas Lucas Kivoi of the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis believes that poor evidence gathering, police negligence and recklessness, a lack of forensic capability and claims of police involvement in extra-judicial killings are among the reasons behind the failure to solve so many murders, and sets out some key steps to address the issues.

ANALYSIS: Dr Muhammad Dan Suleiman, Research Fellow at the UWA Africa Research & Engagement Centre at the University of Western Australia, identifies the key enablers of political extremism in West Africa.