Crime-
spotter

Mobilitate is committed to provide a FREE yet effective communication and collaboration platform to ALL Community Policing Forums (CPF’s) in South Africa to help with the fight against crime. We realised that the CPF boundaries do not correspond with the community or ward boundaries and therefore built a platform where CPF’s can create custom ‘networks’ which are geographically mapped in order to ring-fence a CPF. As a CPF administrator I can expect to do the following on CrimeSpotter:

• Create my own CPF according to exact geographical boundaries
• Manage membership i.e. approve or deny member applications
• Send crime alerts via SMS
• Manage suspicious vehicle and suspicious person registries
• Set up and maintain patrol schedules
• Manage events calendar
• Manage and maintain files
• Manage and maintain blog

As a CPF member I can expect to do the following on CrimeSpotter:

• Map-based crime reporting
• Receive crime alerts via SMS
• View all crime reports and alerts on the map
• Request to become a patroller
• Take part in discussion forums
• View calendar events
• View suspicious vehicle and suspicious person registries
• View CPF files

Based on the rising levels of crime, especially violent crime, the changing socio-political environment, mistrust and antagonism and even open hostility of some members of the community towards the South African Police Service, a new policing approach has been developed. Community Policing Forums (CPF) There is a growing demand for client-orientated policing and for greater police accountability. The unrealistic expectations on the part of the community about the effectiveness of traditional police response are also tackled within this new policing approach. There is growing evidence of the shortcomings of the traditional policing approach and CPF’s are set out to address these shortcomings. Community participation is integral to CPF’s. Without it the police would not be able to shoulder the monumental burden of crime. Crime Prevention A community crime prevention strategy like a CPF is a framework for the crime prevention activities that will make your area safer. Your area needs a community crime prevention strategy because it is the best way to reduce crime. It works. Crime prevention works because it is based on a sound understanding of what causes crime. In effect, crime prevention is about stopping crime from happening rather than waiting to respond once offences have been committed.

CPF’s are intended to assist the police to improve the delivery of police service to the community, strengthen the partnership between the community and their police, promote joint problem identification and problem-solving, ensure police accountability and ensure consultation and proper communication between the police and the community. In this way, CPFs contribute towards enhancing the ability of the police to combat and prevent crime, disorder and fear in partnership with the community. Communities will therefore be able to monitor, evaluate and advise the police. The police will therefore be accountable to the communities they serve. Community involvement is thus directed at finding lasting answers to the problems of crime, disorder and fear. Community participation is KEY. Community participation is not simply one of the steps in the process that has to be completed before you move on to the next step. It is an integral part of the entire process as it should be the underlying approach that governs all aspects from inception right through to implementation and monitoring of the different projects that make up the CPF’s strategy.