Report a Cop/Reward a Cop Programme Keeps Growing

Media Statement by Dan Plato, Western Cape Minister of Community Safety

The Reward a Cop/Report a Cop programme, which encourages the public to report on policing performance, has seen an increase in the number of people using the service.

The programme, with the help of feedback from our communities, promotes effective policing and aims to stamp out police misconduct and corruption.

Shortly after the Report a Cop/Reward a Cop programme was launched in partnership with the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in 2012, the Department of Community Safety (DoCS) received an average of  20-40 calls a month.

After on-going awareness campaign informing the public about this service, we saw an increase to 50 calls for the month of January, and from February until April 2013 we received an average of 80 calls a month. The complaints are most often about police misconduct. Where this is identified we inform the Provincial Police Commissioner’s office, who can then work with the relevant station and cluster commanders to address the problem and provide a better service to the public.

I would like to thank the public for informing us about poor police service as it is only through knowing where the problem is, that we can help the police to fix the situation. 

Table: Complaints received for January 2013 – April 2013

We also received eleven compliments from members of the public who were impressed with the police’s efficiency. I am sure there are for more positive experiences and I would encourage the public to inform us so that those officers can be recognised for their good work.

The programme, "Reward a cop, Report a cop" encourages members of the public to report any police corruption or good police work by smsing the word ‘reward’ or ‘report’ to our sms line 35395, reporting the incident to our 24/7 hotline, 021 483 4332, e-mail policing.complaints@westerncape.gov.za or tweeting to @RewardaCop.

When reporting police misconduct, please remember to report the incident and give all relevant info, as soon as possible. Take note of police names, ranks and vehicle registration numbers. By reporting bad police you are supporting those who take their jobs seriously and want to help their communities.

An effective Police Service is an essential part of any functioning democracy.