Assessing crime intelligence in South Africa. An exploratory discussion on required interventions

The Inclusive Society Institute (ISI) hosted an exploratory discussion on Monday, 19 July 2021, as to what interventions were needed to address the perceived breakdown of crime intelligence in South Africa. Experts have for some time now been warning about such a breakdown, the manifestation of which was confirmed through the looting riots of last week that took the country and its security establishment by surprise.

In the panel discussion between security experts, who were jointly hosted by the ISI and the In Transformation Initiative, panellists concluded that the riots pointed to a spectacular breakdown in crime intelligence. They were however of the opinion that this was to be expected given the dysfunctionality within the crime intelligence community which had become evident to the crime research community for some time now.

The objective of the dialogue, moderated by Mr Roelf Meyer, was to make an assessment as to the of state of play of crime intelligence in South Africa, and to consider the type of interventions that were required to ensure well-functioning crime intelligence in the country. The dialogue served as a scoping exercise for potential research to be undertaken by the ISI and the In Transformation Initiative.