Police ministry welcomes establishment of university

It is also envisaged that the university will offer higher levels such as Honours, Masters and Doctorates over the years.

According to the Ministry the initiative forms part of efforts of building a new cadre of police officers who will be empowered with high level skills to improve policing.

"Such an initiative is in line with what other police agencies are currently doing worldwide. One distinguishing feature of such a University will be the professional leg that will ensure preservation of the policing culture whilst the other is focusing on academic development of members," the Ministry said.

The Ministry welcomed this positive development as it will enhance and improve skills capacity around policing.

"With increasing social, economic and technological developments taking place in our country and globally, dealing with crime also poses various challenges for police, hence it becomes even more crucial to have better-trained equipped police officers," the ministry said.

Plans are afoot in establishing partnerships with a university of renowned standing, in compliance with legislation of the country and internationally.

Stringent criteria

Benchmarking has been done with other security agencies within South Africa and abroad, for example, the Military Academy model in Saldanha Bay, Western Cape.

January 2014 will mark the official opening of Paarl as a University for Police with the first cohort of 120 students enrolled, selected from within the SAPS.

Stringent criteria will be used to select students for enrolment, based on both the SAPS requirements as well as tertiary institutions requirements.

Over the past three years, the Minister of Police Nathi Mthethwa has publicly highlighted a need to place stringent conditions on recruitment, with the emphasis on attracting the most talented and committed South Africans into the SAPS.

Mthethwa emphasised that to effectively deal with crime, the SAPS needs to develop training programmes on an ongoing basis.

For this reason, in 2011 the duration of police training was changed from 12 months to 24 months incorporating both theoretical and practical aspects.

The Ministry is also encouraged by some of the current measures to improve efficiency and augment skills capacity within SAPS, although more still needs to be done.

These include strengthening control, oversight and accountability mechanisms at all levels including civilian oversight, improved internal assessments through the National Inspectorate and a focus on leadership skills and development.