Vigilantism versus a police force: a discussion

I've been ruminating lately upon a few different South Africa topics. I'll summarising and expanding upon them here over a series of (most likely interrupted) posts. Hopefully, posting my ideas can start a discussion in the comments, but I won't hold my breath. Feel free to comment if you are so moved.

Crime is a major problem in South Africa. Cape Town is relatively safe, but we aren't to go roaming about by ourselves at night (or even in certain places during the day). It's definitely a different mindset from anywhere else that I've been, as everywhere else has been safe. When a security guard at the mall showed Heather and me to an ATM just outside, she asked if we were all set or if we needed her to stay. Nearly scoffing at what we perceived as judgement that we were little girls or something, we smiled, thanked her, and told her that we were all set. Only after she left did I notice that each poster in the room warned us to watch out for ATM crime, and I slowly pointed this out to Heather as she hurried to withdraw her money. We were fine, needless to say, but it puts you on edge sometimes.

(Yes, we're in a very safe hotel in a very safe area of the city. We're very safe in groups with the TSiBA students during the day, and we don't venture forth except as a gang at night. In other words, don't worry!)

It's not like we're in Joburg.

South Africa is the rape capital of the world, and the second city, if you will, of assault and murder. The fact that the country is not just crime ridden, but violent crime ridden is particularly unnerving. How did this happen in this land of ubuntu? It's interesting to draw parallels to the United States: a multi-racial democratic nation also riddled with violent crime, especially violent crime. Comparing crime rates with Canada, the UK, and the EU becomes even more unsettling. Why does the United States have the highest murder rate per capita of the developed world? (NB: New England has the lowest crime rate of any region in the country, and New Hampshire has the lowest crime rate of any state (ibidem). Live free or die: it appears that we all choose to live free.)

South Africans, especially those too poor to afford private security guards or other measures, are understandable inpatient and frustrated with crime in their country. When the police force was all white South Africans, the police were the ones enforcing the crimes against humanity towards the blacks and coloureds. Naturally, a sense of distrust in the police was instilled in the population, much like Irish holdouts in different Boston neighbourhoods. You don't talk to the cops, period. How do you expect crimes to be reported when there's no response, or a response too late to make any difference? How should you feel when the cops tell you that they hate you and where you're from?

Citizens turn to vigilantism to solve their problems, but this inevitably creates more problems. As a libertarian, it makes sense to me to police your own home and your own neighbourhood against intruders. It makes sense to educate children on how to use a firearm, and to teach them that guns are not toys, but weapons. What better deterrent to crime than the fact that potential criminals know that everyone is armed? Obviously, this solution is difficult.

What about vigilante police forces? Neighbourhood watch groups? Should we arm them? If you arm these groups, then what's stopping them from turning violent and committing crimes on their own?

What's stopping the police from committing crimes on their own?

The discussion is continued beyond the link.

As mentioned South Africa doesn't have a history of crime--quite the opposite, it has a history of community and collective spirit. So why the crime now? Why crime, when the black and coloured populations didn't seek revenge after Apartheid was abolished, when they've been so patient for reparations? Has their collective patience run out?

Striking is the fact that most crime is committed by poor blacks against poor blacks living in the same impoverished areas. Richer areas are protected too well by walls and police. Trust me, ADT is making a killing. The community centre that we visited in Langa recently had all their computers stolen from their lab. What the hell, guys?

Citizens have taken matters into their own hands, but this can prove detrimental at times. Sometimes in their haste for punishment, mobs take suspects and necklace them without a trial. What's necklacing? What? You've never thrown an old tire filled with petrol around the arms and torso of another and set it on fire, burning the suspect to death? You must not have worn a Yankees cap in Boston.

It's sickening.

I've learned a few things about poverty and development--my own set of rules of sorts. One of these is that there can be no development without security. Another is that there can be no development without education, and there can be no education without security. If schoolchildren, workers, and entrepreneurs cannot get where they're going in the morning without the threat of a land-mine blast, robbery, kidnapping, getting shot, et cetera, then they can't get where they're going, and everything stops. It's a hard concept for us in the west to understand, but how can you farm a field when there could be a mine in it that blows your legs off? There must be security before anything can move forward.

So we're looking at providing security. In South Africa, we can train a better and larger police force and deploy it throughout the townships. I'm interested in speaking with those responsible for cleaning up crime in Boston in the nineties. It seems like their stories can provide valuable lessons for moving forward in South Africa.

I'll bring this back to Muhammad Yunus and microfinance. As you may know, Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. What does this mean? What was the Nobel Committee telling the world?

End poverty, and you will have peace.

References:
Crime Statistics in South Africa
More reading about crime in South Africa