Africa-Press – Namibia. THE PUBLIC HAS every right to expect a high standard of behaviour from members of the police at all times.
Police Integrity: Securing and Maintaining Public Confidence
• JB TJIVIKUA
THE PUBLIC HAS every right to expect a high standard of behaviour from members of the police at all times.
There can be no more important qualities for a police officer than discipline, honesty, and acting with integrity.
Integrity is adherence to moral and ethical principles. Without these basic attributes, the public can’t be expected to trust the police and have the confidence in them necessary for a system of “policing by consent”.
A key message is that the police cannot be complacent.
To secure and maintain public confidence, a high level of general integrity within the force is essential.
A police force with integrity is one with little or no misconduct or corruption.
There’s no denying disturbing headlines about the police involving shootings, beatings, maltreatment of suspects and untoward conduct.
Between 2021 and 2022, the Ombudsman reported 579 cases of alleged police brutality.
As a result, the government is caught in the glare of this unfavourable spotlight. This drives home that improving trust isn’t solely a police responsibility but that of the government and communities in general.
Fundamentally, a good organisation embraces the core elements of professionalism such as competence, discipline, consistency and transparency to build foundations of integrity, trust and legitimacy.
THE GOAL
During the colonial era, the relationship between police officers and communities was strained to the point of fracture or non-existent.
Essentially, the goal in contemporary policing is to improve service delivery, repair and establish a good rapport with the communities they serve, especially the youth, to ensure future community resilience.
Unprofessional conduct and the use of undue force have created an atmosphere where the adversarial relationship that historically exists also manifests itself in adverse public behaviour.
Law enforcement too has succumbed to instances of adverse behaviour stemming from a lack of support from the communities being served.
An inability to recognise the need for each other widens the divide, and public safety suffers.
Importantly, the need for positive interaction with the community and the success of any positive policing strategy hinge on this.
The question is how to achieve this without compounding the problem or alienating community members or officers.
Research shows that the management and culture of the police force are the most important factors influencing police behaviour.
It dramatically affects how officers behave towards citizens.
Organisations that prioritise the following areas will do better at maintaining integrity and effective public service: Accountability of managers and supervisors, equal treatment of all members of society, accessibility to the police, inspections and audits, and the quality of education of officers.
TRAINING
The approach that involves training police officers to acknowledge the need to take a dual approach is problematic.
This bifurcation enables officers to move back and forth from the traditional role of warrior to that of guardian.
This has proved difficult as traditional training models have prepared officers to view situations as right or wrong, narrow or straight, yes or no.
However, the world is not predicated on absolutes. Officers must be adequately trained for changes in criminal justice in the 21st century.
Public safety requires everyone, in essence, to “pull their weight” to reach a desired conclusion.
By addressing the long-held cynicism that permeates our culture, law enforcement can pull back the ‘blue curtain’ (not reporting colleagues’ errors, misconduct, or crime) to foster the transparency communities crave and help humanise law enforcement.
This can also help reduce the stigma sometimes associated with cooperating with the police.
INTERACTIO
Law enforcement needs to remind citizens that their officers are people first. This is achieved through interaction in a non-enforcement role – other than when citizens are victims, witnesses, or suspects.
One activity conducive to this is non-tactical foot patrols.
Interacting with communities with the aim of building relationships can help create genuine connections and relational equity.
Importantly, involving the youth, who are the future of the community, early in the relationship-building process helps customise positive relationships.
Repairing the relationship between the community and law enforcement is the most difficult to achieve but pays the most dividends.
When one party invests in another, it becomes tied to the success and failure of the other party.
It is important that law enforcement officers take major occurrences in their communities personally, whether positive or negative. This creates connections that incentivise law enforcement to participate.
Crucially, every supervisor needs to be significantly more active in raising the standard of behaviour of members and in ensuring that everyone is treated with dignity and respect, regardless of their circumstances.
Community support is essential in providing an effective service.
The police cannot afford to be complacent on these principles.
It is apt to quote author Katrina Mayer, who said: “Integrity is making sure that the things you say and the things you do are in alignment”.
* Major general JB Tjivikua served in the Namibian Police for 27 years.
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