Directorate: Policy and Research

Conducts research on community safety needs and interests in order to:

• inform stakeholders;
• influence the allocation of policing and safety resources; and
• impact on public policy and implementation.

The results of the research are distributed among key stakeholders in government and civil society and many of the reports are available on the Provincial Government website. Click here to see the reports. 

Provincial Policing Needs and Priorities (PNPs)

One of the major programmes of the Directorate is the Annual Determination of the Provincial Policing Needs and Priorities (PNPs) in accordance with Section 206 of the Constitution and Section 23 of the Community Safety Act.

The national Minister of Police must take the provincial policing needs and priorities into account when formulating national policy on policing.

The Department compiles its PNPs through engagement with:

• local, provincial and national government;
• community stakeholders such as CPFs and neighbourhood watch structures, faith-based organisations and community based organisations; and
• desk-top research and surveys.

The reports of the cluster/district PNP engagements and provincial reports are available here. 

Safety plans

Since 2015/16, the Department has been working with CPFs and the South African Police Service to develop cluster safety plans, which are aligned to the PNPs.

In 2019/20, the safety planning process was elevated to the five district municipalities: Cape Winelands, West Coast, Overberg, Central Karoo and Eden. These municipalities will work with local municipalities and other government and non-government partners to implement the safety plan. The Department has allocated over R30 million over a four-year period to assist the districts with this process.

During 2021/22 the Directorate will work in collaboration with the district municipalities to review the district safety plans.

Reporting and research

The SAPS and metro police must submit quarterly reports to the Department on their activities and the extent of crime. The Directorate analyses the information and compiles reports in compliance with Sections 19 and 21 of the Western Cape Community Safety Act, Act 3 of 2013, and submits these reports to the Standing Committee on Community Safety for consideration.

The Directorate produces a report analysing the crime statistics that are released annually by the SAPS. Click here to view the Provincial Crime Reports. The Directorate conducts research projects with the aim of understanding systemic failures within the policing and safety environment in order to promote government policies. It also conducts research as determined by the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service (CSP).

Previous research projects:

• firearm legislation
• demilitarisation of the police
• analysis of human resource allocation to the police
• community safety audits conducted in three areas (Philippi, Atlantis and Stellenbosch)
• police basic training

The provincial reports emanating from the research can be found here. 

Development and maintenance of electronic sub-systems

The Directorate facilitates the development and maintenance of:

• CPF;
• EPP;
• EPWP stipend payment management;
• WCPO complaints management applications; and
• the development and maintenance of a database of community organisations actively involved in the field of policing and safety.

The sub-programme acts as secretariat for the Provincial Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC) which is established in terms of section 25 of the Community Safety Act. The PSAC advises and makes recommendations to the Provincial Minister of the functions of the Province in respect of community safety, as well as on budgets, strategies, policies and annual performance plans of the Department.  and reports on these activities bi-annually.