ATC131010: Report by the Select Committee on Security and Constitutional Development on the Domestic Violence Reports as presented by the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service, dated 9 October 2013

Report by the Select Committee on Security and Constitutional Development on the Domestic Violence Reports as presented by the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service, dated 9 October 2013

The Select Committee on Security and Constitutional Development, having considered the Report on the Implementation of the Domestic Violence Act 01 April – September 2012 and the presentation of the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service (CSPS) (“the Secretariat”) on 31 July 2013, reports as follows:

1. Introduction

Section 6(1)(c) of the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service Act No 2 of 2011 makes provision for the Secretariat to monitor and evaluate compliance with the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act No 116 of 1998 (DVA) and to make recommendations to the Police Service on disciplinary measures for non-compliance with the DVA. Section 6(i)(ii) makes provision for the Secretariat to provide regular reports to the Minister on non-compliance with the implementation of policy directives and instructions issued by the Minister.

The tabled report covered the period 1 April 2012 to September 2012. In its presentation the Department also reported that it conducted 145 DVA audits for the 2012/13 financial year in order to identify gaps in the implementation of the legislation. In addition, the CSPS held joint workshops with the South African Police Service (SAPS) and provincial offices by setting up a DVA Compliance Forum in the provinces.

2. Implementation challenges

The Secretariat visited 145 police stations and conducted audits at all of the stations in order to identify gaps in the DVA implementation process and make proposals for improved implementation.

A number of implementation challenges were highlighted in the report in respect of non compliance with the provisions of the Act. These non compliance challenges included the following challenges:

•          The files with documents that should be kept at the Community Service Centre (CSC) and in the patrol vehicles were not available in most stations.

•          There was poor or incorrect completion of SAPS 508a (incident form) and SAPS 508b (Domestic violence register).

•          Elements of the DVA incidents were sometimes recorded differently in the DV register and on the SAPS 508a form even though the incident was the same.

•          The non-compliance register/form (SAPS 508) in which the Station Commander should be recording complaints against members for failing to comply with the DVA was non-existent in almost all the stations visited.

•          The files with documents that should be kept at the CSC and in the patrol vehicles were not available in most stations.

•          There was poor or incorrect completion of SAPS 508a (incident form) and SAPS 508b (Domestic violence register).

•          Elements of the DVA incidents were sometimes recorded differently in the DV register and on the SAPS 508a form even though the incident is the same.

•          The non-compliance register/form (SAPS 508) in which the Station Commander should be recording complaints against members for failing to comply with the DVA was non-existent in almost all the stations visited

•          Management and availability of Victim Friendly Rooms showed that 62% of Victim Friendly Rooms was well resourced, while 24% did not have a victim friendly room while 14% were not functional

3. CSPS Recommendations to SAPS

The Secretariat made a number of recommendations for the implementation by SAPS. These recommendations include the following areas:

3.1          SAPS should develop a flow chart on how to provide practical assistance to victims of DVA and which must be posted in the CSC and the Victim Friendly Room (VFR) for easy reference.

3.2          The DVA register (SAPS 508b), needs to be reviewed and updated. Provision for additional columns for updating information must be made, e.g. reasons for no arrest, details of investigation officer where a case has been opened and space for signatures, details and comments of inspecting officer. This will assist in ensuring that there is no communication breakdown during shift changes and also between the detectives and the CSC when there is a need to follow up on cases.

3.3          The SAPS 508a form could be redesigned into a checklist format, so that a member can use it to check if they have followed all the proper procedures in assisting the victims of domestic violence.

3.4          The non-compliance form (SAPS 508) should be re-issued to all stations as most Station Commanders indicated no knowledge of the form. The form should also be updated to substitute the ICD with the Secretariat.

3.5          Management of the VFR should be strengthened, for example, in stations where there is a CSO operating, or active CPF involvement and a MOU with the Station should be entered into. It should clearly define the role of SAPS, Community Police Forum (CPF), the CSO and the volunteers.

3.6          The SAPS should also develop a volunteer management policy which will cover screening and management of volunteers at the station.

3.7          The non-compliance form (SAPS 508) should be re-issued to all stations as most Station Commanders indicated that they had no knowledge of the form. The form should also be updated to substitute ICD with Secretariat.

3.8          The SAPS should also develop a volunteer management policy which will cover screening and management of volunteers at the station.

4. Recording of Domestic Violence Incidents

4.1          According to the SAPS Crime Administration System (CAS), DVA contraventions are not interpreted as a criminal offence on its own.

4.2          This poses a challenge as it becomes difficult to assess how many arrests were made as a result of the Protection Order contraventions.

4.3          The system also does not capture DVA incidents reported as they appear in the register. The CAS should therefore be equipped to recognise domestic violence as a stand alone offence.

4.4          There is no standard system of handling cases where SAPS members that are perpetrators of domestic violence. Some stations record these in red ink in the DVA register; some have a separate register for members.

4.5          The SAPS disciplinary regulations and DVA National Instructions also do not explicitly indicate how these cases should be dealt with and what should be the consequences. In some provinces these cases are referred to the Provincial Commissioner and some they are dealt with at Cluster level.

5. SAPS Members who perpetrate domestic violence

5.1          CAS should be reviewed so as to recognise DVA as a criminal offence not attached to other crimes

5.2          System should also be able to capture incidents reported so as to make it easy to draw comparisons between incidents reported, cases opened, arrest made and cases withdrawn

5.3          Employee Health and Wellness Programme division should conduct regular information session with employees at station level so that they can easily identify and intervene with SAPS members that are in crisis or at risk.

5.4          Members who commit acts of domestic violence are in direct contradiction with the SAPS’s commitment to protect women and children. The SAPS disciplinary regulations should therefore have a specific clause on how to deal with members that are perpetrators of DVA.

5.5          The National Instructions should also include a paragraph on reporting and record keeping of the data of members who are involved in domestic violence either as perpetrators of victims. This will help to ensure that members are properly placed (pending outcome) where they can neither be danger to complainants, respondents or themselves.

5.6          All cases involving members as perpetrators should be referred to the Provincial Inspectorate for investigation and reports be forwarded to the Secretariat to monitor progress.

5.7          A protocol with regard to time frames for the investigation of these cases should be developed as the time taken has implications for the SAPS member’s ability to perform his or her duties, e.g. seizure of firearm and placement of the SAPS member.

6. Other Key Recommendations

6.1          Significantly, fifty percent of the staff at the police stations visited did not have training in the DVA. This contributed a great gap in the understanding of dealing with DVA complaints on the part of police officers. The report proposes that refresher training is conducted for all members that are not responsible for the administration of domestic violence cases at the station. The training course content itself should also be reviewed. The CSPS reported that it would be conducting visits to the training centres to observe the training methodology and make recommendations. The evaluation of the training content will be conducted jointly by the CSPS and SAPS.

6.2          The CSPS reported that 72% of domestic violence cases were withdrawn and that it would engage civil society and academia in exploring various ways of policing domestic violence taking into consideration social and economic context of our country. In addition stringent measures would be taken to ensure that withdrawal is dealt with in the DVA and national instructions.

6.3          The Station Commanders do not adhere to the National Instruction prescripts as they add their signatures to the registers, but do not really inspect it. The CSPS reported that 75% of Domestic Violence Registers are inspected weekly by the Visible Policing Head, while 57% are inspected by the station commander on a weekly basis.

6.4          There are legislative gaps in the legislation as no time frames are set out for the serving of protection orders. This allows SAPS and the NPA pointing fingers at each other. In addition, complainants are also able to go directly to courts to obtain such protection orders without informing SAPS. The National Instruction must be reviewed to make provision for the changes and the introduction of the CSPS as the lead department administering the reports.

6.5          The DVA should also make accommodation for a multi-lateral agreement for all parties and departments that have a role to play in the implementation of the DVA. Roles and responsibilities of all departments in serving protection orders should be clearly defined.

6.6          The CSPS also reported that they have started a national DVA compliance forum that has already had workshops on these matters. It also intended to conduct provincial visits to training colleges to observe the training methodology.

7. Committee concerns

Members of the Committee that had visited Dundee police raised concerns about training. Concerns were also raised about the inability of SAPS to deal with members of the public with disabilities, particularly the deaf, as this often resulted in the case not being reported. There also has to be a relationship between the DVA and the issue of disability so that the challenges associated with disability could be addressed.

It was clear to Members that SAPS alone should not manage the Victim Empowerment Rooms and that in order to effectively manage the problem, there needed to be better inter-governmental collaboration. The high numbers of complainants who withdraw domestic violence complaints were also a concern for members of the Committee.

Members wanted to know what happened to the disciplinary cases of police officers who do not follow the National Instruction. The CSPS was asked to indicate who dealt with these cases and what the progress reports there were in this regard. Members also questioned the manner in which offences of this nature is treated by SAPS. They wanted more clarity on the process of disciplining members of SAPS and wanted to know what happens at station level with such members.

Members also noted that in their communities there are many people with protection orders which are not enforced by the police and that this made these orders ineffective. The CSPS was advised to look at methodologies to ensure that protection orders were enforced, particularly in the provinces.

Another key issue for members was the availability of expertise within the CSPS such as psychologists and social workers. Members wanted to know how the CSPS monitors the implementation of the DVA by police members.

8. Civilian Secretariat for Police Service responses

The CSPS responded by indicating that they refer their reports on non compliance with the DVA to the Minister of Police and to the National Police Commissioner for implementation of the recommendations. They have also set up a forum to look at the recommendations so that it can be strengthened. The CSPS reported that it could not interfere in operational matters of SAPS, but will be reporting back on this matter.

The CSPS also responded by indicating that while the administration of the DVA is one of the Minister’s priorities, members of SAPS at station level often report that they were not trained on the DVA. The Secretariat believed that SAPS members said this during the audit to protect themselves when they did not adhere to the National Instruction. The Human Resources (HR) records, however, showed that some of the SAPS members were in fact trained on the DVA. The Secretariat further responded that it did not see the training translating into action at station level. It would however come back to the committee with a better informed opinion afterits own research was completed.

On the matter of the withdrawal of DVA cases, the CSPS indicated that domestic violence is a socio-economic problem and that even the designated officer needs to be of a certain calibre in order to understand the socio-economic circumstances of the complainants. The CSPS is looking to understand why there are withdrawals by the officers themselves and will sit down with SAPS and other departments to understand the reason for this.

On the issue of protection orders, the CSPS indicated that they are now working with national and provincial governments to ensure compliance with the DVA. It was now working to establish provincial secretariats by April 2014.

The CSPS also informed that it do get statistics from the station commanders when they require it. They also contract in skills they require by partnering through their reference group of academics.

9. Select Committee Recommendations

The Committee having considered the report made the following recommendations:

The CSPS should

9.1          Review the training content of the DVA in police training colleges and report back to the Committee within three months.

9.2          Determine the reasons for the non-implementation of the DVA at station level and report back to the Committee within three months.

9.3          Provide a report to the Committee within three months on the reason for the high levels of withdrawal of DVA complaints by complainants.

Report to be considered.