Good luck trying to get through: 26% of 10111 calls are dropped,

The clean financial statements of the police service are at odds with their record of delivery, say their parliamentary overseers.

The Portfolio Committee on Police were presented with reports from the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA), national police and the private security sector on 9 October.

Police and associated units received an unqualified audit opinion for the AGSA but missed several performance-based measurables.

More than half of targets missed

Among the lowlights of police performance were a high DNA analysis backlog, a high rate of missed 10111 reports, and a poor case success rate.

Overall, the police service only achieved eight of its 18 performance targets for the previous financial year.

The number of detectives has dropped from 26,000 to 17,000 in the last seven years and this has contributed to only 45.89% of cases being solved in the last year.

“This trend continues with crimes against children under 18 years, with only 63,07% of these being solved, a total of 38 998 cases out of 61 828,” noted Action Society.

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Hampering those efforts is a DNA analysis backlog, which the committee heard now stands at roughly 70,000 cases.

“It is imperative that police gets this issue under control if we are to improve conviction rates and deliver justice to victims,” stated Portfolio Committee chair Ian Cameron.

Reporting crimes in progress is also hit-and-miss, with police confirming 26% of 10111 calls are abandoned with those responded to being done so in eight to 35 minutes on average.

Crime Intelligence scores 100%

The Crime Intelligence Division achieved 100% of its targets but Cameron noted the prevalence of extortion, kidnappings and cash-in-transit heists was still alarming.

The Civilian Secretariat for Police Service achieved its second consecutive clean audit, something Cameron said showed a “commitment to sound financial management”.

One stain on the security cluster’s record belonged to the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (Psira).

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The entity, whose officers far outnumber those of police personnel, received a qualified audit opinion from the AGSA.

“Strengthening Psira’s regulatory role is crucial, especially as private security firms continue to fill gaps left by an overstretched police,” noted the portfolio committee.

“[We] will drive efforts to close these gaps, improve crime intelligence, speed up investigations, and strengthen the entire law enforcement and security sector,” stated Cameron in a social media post following the briefing.