The perceptions of private security officer behaviour on the preliminary investigation of housebreaking crime scenes in Berea, Durban.

Abstract

The severity of the crime pandemic in South Africa is demonstrated by the above-average prevalence of private policing companies that operate alongside state police. The involvement of the private security industry in the combating of crime has great potential for neutralising the plague of crime, particularly in countries where the levels of crime have reached immense concern, in South Africa in particular. It has become common practice in South Africa to employ the services of armed response officials who are able to swiftly respond to premises where suspicious activity or crimes have taken place. As typical first responders to crime scenes of housebreaking, the question is raised whether security personnel possess adequate knowledge regarding crime scene management and evidence preservation. The research sought to gain a better understanding of private security activity, responsibility and training concerned with first response to an alleged crime scene. The research was restricted to events of housebreaking, because this type of crime forms the bulk of armed response requirements. The findings indicated that the services performed by private security first responders were deemed satisfactory by members of the SAPS. According to the results, crime scene contamination quite rarely occurs at the hands of large, well-known private security companies, but may rather be expected from smaller, lesser-trained officers of private security businesses. Based on the findings, recommendations are offered that mainly involve private security training programme advancements as well as industry regulatory improvements.