Poor crime prevention policy implementation: links to ‘fear of crime’

The National Crime Prevention Strategy (NCPS) (1996) and the White Paper on Safety and Security (1998) were explicit in mandating municipalities across the country to take the lead in the prevention of crime in their jurisdictions. This article discusses the results obtained from research that asses...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Mothibi, Kholofelo A. (Author)
Contributors: Roelofse, C.
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2017
In: Acta criminologica
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
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Summary:The National Crime Prevention Strategy (NCPS) (1996) and the White Paper on Safety and Security (1998) were explicit in mandating municipalities across the country to take the lead in the prevention of crime in their jurisdictions. This article discusses the results obtained from research that assessed fear of crime in Polokwane, South Africa. Most municipalities failed to implement the tenets of the NCPS policies including Polokwane Municipality as reflected in the findings conducted in South African cities such as Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Cape Town. The research focused on feelings of safety and fear of crime in selected areas of Polokwane. It is based on 480 pre-coded closed-ended questions questionnaires that were distributed among community members in the city centre of Polokwane. The researchers selected nine hotspots in the city and collected data on fear of crime, crimes feared the most and factors contributing to fear of crim, according to respondents. The findings revealed that 84.2 percent of respondents feel very unsafe at the c/o Jorrisen and Dahl street during the night, while 76.3 percent of the respondents indicated that that they mostly feared being robbed. Furthermore, the research revealed poor policing as a factor contributing to fear of crime (87.9 percent).
ISSN:1012-8093