The Impact of Accountability, Oversight, and Integrity on Professionalism in the Police Service in South Africa | Chapter 15 | The Evolving Blueprint, Strategic Leadership, VALUE-Driven Police Leaders and Ethical Excellence in Law Enforcement

Professionalism is the aim, conduct or qualities that characterise a vocation that requires advanced training in some liberal art or science. Professionalism in the police force has several positive impacts that include good service to the public, better pay for the constables, ethical conduct, strong community support, as well as respect and a stronger role in the Criminal Justice System. The study aimed to investigate the culture of accountability in law enforcement, which is of particular importance. Police departments need to create a system of internal checks and balances to make sure officers carry out their duties properly and act with integrity. Police accountability ensures that officers can work together effectively. They can trust their commanders to make ethical decisions. They know their fellow officers will put the needs of the department and the public ahead of personal interests. A culture of accountability in law enforcement also builds trust between the police and the community. The public holds the police to high standards. The police are faced with multiple challenges in their line of work that range from being rejected by the people in the community they work in to having to stay calm when faced with a hard situation that can cost them their lives.  Moreover, when police violate the rules, they break public trust and lose credibility. This ultimately makes policing more difficult, as people are unlikely to cooperate with police if they don’t trust them. The second aim of the study was to investigate oversight and integrity in the police. The third aim is to identify how the levels of police professionalism within the South African Police Service could be improved. A literature review on adult learning, training and development, as well as SAPS professionalism, was conducted. Professionalisation seeks to clothe a given area with standards of excellence, to establish rules of conduct, to develop a sense of responsibility, to set criteria for recruitment and training, to ensure a measure of protection for members, to establish collective control over the area, and to elevate it to a position of dignity, and social standing in society.

 

Author (s) Details

 

Dr. John Motsamai Modise
Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa.

 

Dr. Kishore Raga
Nelson Mandela University, South Africa.

 

Please see the book here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/mono/978-93-49970-95-3/CH15