Policing the provinces: A budgetary analysis

This article examines the impact of the Financial and Fiscal Commission's (FFC) new provincial financing dispensation on the allocation of police resources and on the deliv ery of police services at provincial level. Trends in the police budget since the late 1989s are examined, and the existing provincial allocation of police resources is analysed, as well as the relationship between crime rates, socio-economic variables and the provincial allocation of police resources. A new framework for the provincial allocation of police resources is subsequently proposed. This framework is based on the FFC's proposed provincial grants formula and the establishment of a Crime Equalisation Fund (CEF) which allocates additional police resources based on each province's per capita crime rates and specific priority crimes. The article argues that the phased reallocation of po lice resources to provinces via this new framework will contribute to a more equitable and effective utilisation of existing police resources, which in turn should have a positive impact on the delivery of police services and the levels of crime. It also suggests that the further devolution of the police budget to provinces is likely to be inhibited by the ANC's commitment to retaining a national, centralised police service. Thus, any further devolu tion of budgetary powers with respect to policing will be determined by the outcome of centre-province political dynamics rather than by the need to combat crime more effec tively at provincial levels.