A moratorium on crime statistics? Cele is already playing politics with the Police Service

New National Police Commissioner Bheki Cele must immediately retract his statement that a moratorium will be placed on the release of crime statistics. It quite frankly beggars belief that just a few days into his new job, the Police Commissioner would make such a blatantly politically-motivated and completely counterproductive announcement, and the Commissioner must re-evaluate his stance on this matter right away.

During an interview on SAFM's After Eight Debate, Commissioner Cele made it clear that he supported a moratorium on the release of crime statistics:

Interviewer: "So you would support a moratorium on statistics?"

Cele: "I would support that."

In the interview, the Commissioner offered three reasons for placing a moratorium on crime statistics:

First:

"I am saying to you there are statistics that are released, and criminals use the very same statistics you release, and there are those that if you don't release, it gives you the better edge to fight the crime."

Second:

"I understand that the Interpol has discussed the question of crime stats release, and looked at that in favour of periodically, not all the time, release. That is Interpol. But let me tell you, many countries, especially those countries that might be peers of South Africa, especially South America and Central America, nobody release stats there of crime at all for a very, very long time."

Third:

"[Statistics] are used for political bashing"

Astonishingly, the state broadcaster's anchor did not even bother to query the Police Commissioner's claims with any follow-up questions. However, these assertions are extremely dubious:

First, what evidence is there that criminals use annual crime statistics in the planning of crimes?  In particular, it is frankly inconceivable that rates of crime for the entire country, sorted into broad categories, could ever be used by criminals to their benefit. How many would-be murderers consult the SAPS Crime Statistics booklet to check up on the annual murder rate? The DA challenges the Police Commissioner to elaborate on this claim, and provide concrete examples of where this has been the case. For this claim to stand as a just basis for placing a moratorium on all crime statistics, he must:

• Show that every category of crime statistic has been used by criminals in the planning of crimes (because if it turns out that a few categories can be used by criminals, this is not a good reason for failing to release the vast majority of data that could clearly never be of any use to criminals).
• Demonstrate that the benefit of preventing whichever crimes he can show are planned using crime statistics, outweighs the enormous cost of setting up an essentially Stalinist Police Service, which refuses to release information about its own performance to the general public.

Second, which Interpol study is the Commissioner referring to, and how could a study that advocates periodic release of crime statistics possibly support Mr. Cele's calls for a moratorium? In addition, there is a wealth of evidence to support the Democratic Alliance's view that real-time updates and monitoring of crime statistics would be of significant benefit to efforts to fight crime. [See a summary of our proposals here].

Even more perplexing is the Commissioner's claim that no South and Central American countries have released crime statistics "for a very, very long time". In a snap survey of Latin American countries, we found that:

• Colombia released crime statistics for up to the end of 2008 in January 2009 and a comparative table on crime for Jan-Jun 2008/2009 is available on their Defence Ministry website
• Costa Rica has released crime statistics for 2008
• Uruguay has released figures up to the end of 2008 and some information on first quarter 2009 figures

Third, Mr. Cele makes reference to "political bashing". How could this be a just basis for placing a moratorium on crime statistics? If crime statistics show the Police Service's performance is deteriorating, this will rightly come under criticism; conversely, if the outlook is improving, the political party in power will take the credit. But it is surely not for a supposedly independent Police Commissioner to be considering any of these political ramifications as a basis for making decisions on crime fighting? On Wednesday the DA warned that the appointment of Mr. Cele was not unlike the appointment of Mr. Selebi in 1999, and that South Africa could not afford another career politician in the role of Police Commissioner. In light of this, it has to be asked: Is Mr. Cele's behaviour that of a non-partisan Police official, or a deployed cadre from the ANC's National Executive Committee?

State institutions can only be held accountable when they act in a transparent manner. In the case of the Police Service, it is essential that crime statistics are released on a regular basis, so that the public and civil society groups can assess, on an ongoing basis, how its government is performing. The Commissioner's claims ring hollow when confronted with evidence, and the Commissioner's announcement is unacceptable to the DA. We demand that he considers the evidence very carefully, ceases to think and act like an ANC politician, and retracts his calls for a moratorium on crime statistics right away.

Statement issued by Dianne Kohler Barnard MP, Democratic Alliance shadow minister of police, August 2 2009

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