The legend of good cop/bad cop: Researchers study police work in South Africa
Corrupt, lazy, ignorant and too cowardly to chase criminals - these are among some of the most negative terms to have been applied to the police in South Africa, particularly by their fellow citizens. What truth these perceptions hold and other problems faced by the South African Police Service (SAPS) is the subject of research by political scientist Darshan Vigneswaran from the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity in Gottingen. He worked with fellow scientist Julia Hornberger on the project "Beyond ‘Good Cop`/‘Bad Cop`: Understanding Informality and Police Corruption in South Africa". They and their team spent six months shadowing South African police officers on duty, documenting their behaviour on the job. Their findings are suggestive of a brand new strategy in the battle against police corruption on the Cape.