Reservists, Police Constabulary, Neighbourhood Watch

Hello All,

Today I was considering some of the things that contributed to the collapse of The Zimbabwe Republic Police as a credible law enforcement agency. And one of the things that I hit upon was the reserves.

On the surface, the police reserve force, or special constabulary as it is now known (so many names of things have been changed, ostensibly to try and help the colonial past fade, but really just costing money and of no significant use!) could be an extremely useful adjunct to the regular force. And indeed this used to be the case. These are generally individuals with an interest in policing who have normal full time employment. They used to be trained to a fairly high standard and fitted into the force as part time paid members. They generally operated from their local station and carried out duties alongside regular officers. They were issued uniform and rank, were subject to the police act. They also could be "called up" for continuous service when the demands on the force dictated.

Being paid, they could not be classified as "volunteers" which made them subject to regulation and disciplinary procedures and meant that they were required to fulfil certain obligations. However, they were people who chose to be involved and, as such, they tended to have quite a decent attitude towards their work and were often very dedicated.

The Zimbabwe Republic Police had a very effective reservist contingent inherited from the BSAP. In the early 80's, around the time of gukurahundi, the ZANU-PF government used this as one of their tools to start turning the police into a party militia. The first things that happened was that one had to have a zanu-pf party card in order to be eligible to join the police reserve. And so the rot set in. A number of individuals who really wanted to be reservists and involved actually joined the party and endured endless party meetings in order just to get in!

The reserve filled up with party members who saw it as a way to get into the regular force. Their dreams were, in fact, realised. During the late 80's and early 90's there was much talk about the scrapping of the reserve force altogether and all members were offered integration into the regular force. Many of these persons would not have survived the entry criteria and testing to which normal regular officers were subject. When I joined the force all manner of things were tested, health, minimum height, weight, education, fitness as well as all manner of psychometric testing as well as CID and police clearance for criminal records (I a m surprised they no longer pay attention to this aspect as it almost seems that being completely unsuitable for service and having a criminal record are pre- requisites for entry!).

The name of the police reserve was changed (late 80's, I think!), entry criteria began to fall away and, as funding within the force dropped (probably to accommodate the excesses of the elite!) training fell away. One merely had to approach and befriend the local CRLO (Community Relations Liaison Officer) at any station and the paper work would be completed, usually a lot faster if you "helped out with certain things" and presto - you would be a policeman! There were a number of young white Zimbabweans (as well as the odd foreigner!) who joined during this era, some of whom were not even over the of 18 years (the minimum age for joining since the scrapping of the cadet rank). Some of these people had a genuine interest in policing and many provided transport where the police had none and many managed to accumulate strong records of arrests. Many did not. And confusion reigned supreme. The neighbourhood watch scheme was introduced as a way of putting grass roots patrols back out on the streets (you recall from the official history I quoted - this was probably a duty considered "manual, dirty work!). Neighbourhood watch members were issued with force numbers (usually starting 080) and were imbued with the rank of constable. Their mandate was meant to be to patrol their local neighbour hood only and to apprehend and detain persons who may have been committing crime in that neighbourhood.

Well, most of the true neighbourhood watch work was actually done by domestic servants who patrolled diligently, provided and decent presence and made some good arrests. they acted as a very good deterrent.

Many of the younger whites who became involved with neighbourhood watch, suddenly saw themselves as crime fighters extraordinaire! They could be found producing their ID cards to gain entry to local nightclubs, rushing around with blue lights and generally creating a huge amount of confusion. Many of the A branch members of the Police Constabulary, as it became known fell in with this group. I have met many of these questionable quasi policemen who claim to be things like "vice squad", "drugs squad", "C.I.D." etc. And quite laughable, but also fairly dangerous. Many of these individuals had absolutely no idea about what forms were required for what, how to attend a crime scene, what the priorities at a road traffic accident were etc. And regular officers used to have to be in the duty uniform branch for at least two years and score consistent b's in their APR's to be considered for C.I.D. work. Many of the real A branch members who did a lot of good work found themselves confused with these self made "miami Vice" wannabes and suffered for it. Even the force itself has no clues what these members are or who they are now! There were one or two notable ex regular member who fought hard to maintain some form of policing, but alas, all have become mired in the absolute shambles that is the ZRP today.

Nowadays the regular members of the force have become so confused themselves as to who or what "policon" members are - generally speaking, if you are white, you are now regarded as being a member of the neighbourhood watch and the police constabulary no longer exists. They stopped paying members in about 1998 and with the need for pay records gone, record keeping dropped to match other areas of the force.

But then, the reserve had done its job - as a route for the party cadres into the force, without having to undergo anything as embarrassing as a set of tests to determine if they even had the ability and attitude to police! No surprise then that the quality of the force has crashed!

Later.