The clarion call by H.E. Dr. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, President of the Republic of Namibia, in her first maiden State of the Nation address in parliament, “for NAMPOL to intensify patrols to eliminate crime in our communities”, must have triggered officers to analyse their actions and experiences relating to crime combatting in the country.
Police work has developed considerably from what it was centuries ago, a traditional policing, in stark contrast to what is now known as contemporary policing models, like community policing, and problem-oriented policing, which emphasize collaboration, pro-active problem solving and building relationships with the community. As time evolves, law enforcement agencies have accepted the concept of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), by observing how the built environment influences crime rates and human behaviour, particularly in urban areas.
It is easy to despair over crime in cities and towns. But crime prevention does not work a la carte and there is no silver bullet, only encompassing national crime prevention strategy, hard work of gradual improvement and the challenge of waiting for the long-term positive outcome to emerge.
This is an approach that uses the design of physical environments to reduce crime and the fear of crime. It is a multi-disciplinary approach that involves law enforcement, city planners and designers to create safer neighbourhoods and communities.
Conceptualized in the 1960s, it is based on five main principles, these are: natural access control: limiting access points to buildings and areas, making it more difficult for criminals to enter and exit; natural surveillance: designing spaces to be easily visible, encouraging natural surveillance by residents and passersby; territorial reinforcement: discouraging unwanted users and creating a sense of ownership and belonging in specific areas; activity support: encouraging positive activity in public spaces and making them less vulnerable to criminal activity, and, maintenance: regularly maintaining the environment.
As such, CPTED enhances the safety and security of particularly urban spaces, considering the evolving challenges of urban life, when involving specialized units and strategies to tackle the types of crime, such as housebreaking, homicide, drug trafficking, gang violence, traffic violations and more.
This means using technology to incorporate risk forecasts based on different measures beyond historical crime data, including risk terrain factors, such as train stations, bus stops, taxi ranks, parks, major junctions, businesses and school locations, stadiums, dump sites, etc. This gives agencies more precise locations to patrol than general hotspots. And with the technology available today, agencies can accomplish their strategies with unmatched precision. These are feasible solutions for crime prevention efforts in towns and cities.
The concept involves a range of techniques, such as, security personnel, access controls systems, and technologies involving artificial intelligence (AI) designed for predictive policing, criminal network analysis, data analysis, face recognition, as well as surveillance systems of CCTV cameras, gunshot detection systems and drones equipped with cameras, to deter, detect, and respond to potential risks.
However, in the design to realign police strategies with actual crime prevention, police should in principle also focus on proactive measures, intelligence and data-driven approaches. This involves implementing strategies that address the underlying root causes of crime, utilising data to identify hotspots and patterns, by doing crime trend analysis and planning, and work in partnership with the community to create safer neighbourhoods. By so doing, law enforcement can shift from a reactive policing to a proactive approach.
Maximising high visibility
Combined with CPTED principles, putting law enforcement in an area to see what other issues might be happening, and then figuring out why crime is happening, create the best results for police-community relationships and overall safety. To achieve this, law enforcement needs the right technology mentioned above, that supports police patrols, collects more data, and helps officers to make the best decisions for themselves and their communities.
In addition, consistent use of high-visibility, non-enforcement policing activities can still maximise crime deterrence while keeping community harm to minimum. Simple visible presence, like driving through an area, or doing beat and patrol duties, and even parking and observing in a visible area to the public, all have an important deterrence but with much lower level of community dissatisfaction related to over-policing. Indeed, patrolling objectives shouldn’t be centered around making an arrest. In contrast, it should be about deterring and preventing crime. Likewise, a lack of arrest shouldn’t indicate a failure on the officer’s part but rather that they are doing exactly what they should be.
The challenges
Over the years, tight budgets, staff shortages, staff retention, recruitment challenges, a rise in complex crimes, public distrust, the need to adapt to evolving societal needs, and the constant need to address new and evolving forms of crime like cybercrime, have made policing system increasingly difficult. Fewer officers mean more work for the ones who are serving. So, while agencies must professionalize and optimise resources, they are also expected to excel and look for ways to maximise their existing workforce without overloading it.
This has created difficulties and a need for more precision in how patrols and other crime prevention duties are directed and placing officers in the right place at the right time for greater impact. It has also become a daunting task in creating a sense of security and solving community problems that go unnoticed and implement crime prevention strategies unmistakably.
-Maj. Gen. (RTD) J. B Tjivikua is a Criminal Intelligence Analyst