Civilian Secretariat for Police Service Act, 2011 (Act No. 2 of 2011)Chapter 2 : Civilian Secretariat for Police Service6. Functions of Civilian Secretariat |
| (1) | The Civilian Secretariat must, in order to achieve its objects— |
| (a) | monitor the performance of the police service and regularly assess the extent to which the police service has adequate policies and effective systems and to recommend corrective measures; |
| (b) | monitor the utilisation of the budget of the police service to ensure compliance with any policy directives or instructions of the Minister; |
| (c) | monitor and evaluate compliance with the Domestic Violence Act, 1998 (Act No.116 of 1998); |
| (d) | make recommendations to the police service on disciplinary procedures and measures with regard to non-compliance with the Domestic Violence Act, 1998; |
| (e) | consider such recommendations, suggestions and requests concerning police and policing matters as it may receive from any source; |
| (f) | conduct or cause to be conducted any research as it may deem necessary; |
| (g) | enter into either memoranda of understanding or agreements or both, in consultation with the Minister, with civilian oversight groups and other parties and engage such groups and parties to strengthen co-operation between the various roleplayers; |
| (h) | advise and support the Minister in the exercise of his or her powers and the performance of his or her functions; |
| (i) | provide the Minister with regular reports with regard to— |
| (i) | the performance of the police service; and |
| (ii) | implementation of and compliance by the police service with policy directives issued or instructions made by the Minister; and |
| (j) | assess and monitor the police service's ability to receive and deal with complaints against its members. |
| (2) | The Civilian Secretariat must, for the purpose of subsection (1), establish competencies and capabilities in its operations in order to— |
| (a) |
| (i) | conduct research into any policing matter and report to the Secretary thereon; |
| (ii) | provide policy advice to the Minister through the Secretary; |
| (iii) | make available recent, relevant and evidence-based research to the Minister and to Parliament; |
| (iv) | create a resource information centre; and |
| (v) | develop at least one civil society reference group; |
| (b) |
| (i) | conduct quality assessment of the police service and monitor and evaluate its performance; |
| (ii) | identify problem areas for early interventions; |
| (iii) | review police practices and develop best practice models; |
| (iv) | recommend steps for improved service delivery and police effectiveness; |
| (v) | develop frameworks and strategies to ensure improved police accountability; and |
| (c) |
| (i) | facilitate and implement intergovernmental co-operation on safety; |
| (ii) | conduct ongoing interaction with citizens in the manner contemplated by this Act; |
| (iii) | enhance the quality and accessibility of safety programmes through improved participation by the community; |
| (iv) | encourage national dialogue on safety and crime prevention; |
| (v) | facilitate pro-active and interventionist models in communities; |
| (vi) | co-ordinate efforts to deal with challenges faced by the police service as requested by the Minister; |
| (vii) | develop frameworks and strategies to ensure uniformity, accountability and enhancement of community police fora and associated structures; and |
| (viii) | maximise capacity and expertise in the Civilian Secretariat. |