SECTION IV: REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS

These recommendations emerge from Section II and III of this report. Section II recommendations derive from the analysis of the offences of concern. Most of these recommendations fall into three categories: operative, research, public awareness.

Section II Recommendations

Operative recommendations
1. Capacity building of the police force
  1. Identified police capacities that should be retained and enhanced are those relating to: traffic offences, offences against property, offences against person, drugs, fraud and dishonesty, morality, and licence law offences. It would be recommended that although many specialized units have been created in Mauritius since 1996 and have proven to be very effective, general policing should not be neglected.
  2. A comprehensive policing training strategy should be created. This should comprise of:
    1. Higher education on criminal justice studies available to the police, other agencies of the state, and other civilian stakeholders.
    2. Improved understanding of the role and responsibilities of the police.
    3. General policing practice.
    4. The global law and order environment.
    It is recommended that this higher education course be created in partnership with the University of Mauritius and with other academic organizations, and to benefit not just the Mauritius law enforcement agencies but also those of our immediate region (SADC), as well as the professional public at large.
  3. Particular attention should be given to the creation or enhancement of specialized training in:
    1. Police capacity to undertake evaluation and resurveying of crime trends periodically, including the management of an effective lessons learnt and documentation centre. This should be done through the enhancement of the Research and Development Unit.
    2. Create and capacitate a Central Crime Intelligence Unit to gather, monitor and analyse information on existing and emerging crime trends and to liaise with counterparts abroad.
    3. Capacitate personnel of the police to liaise more effectively with the public and business at large, and to engage in joint community policing projects including education and public awareness campaigns.
    4. Enhance and expand the training of existing units, particularly:
      1. Police Dog Section
      2. IT Unit
      3. Family Protection Unit
      4. ADSU
      5. Research Unit
2. Monitoring and Surveillance
  1. Undertake a needs assessment for patrolling modalities with a view to enhancing their effectiveness vis-à-vis emerging crime trends such as larceny and others identified in this report.
  2. Task the Research Unit, in liaison with the officer in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department and the Traffic Branch, to undertake a special survey of traffic violations in 2005 to assess the manner in which new measures and laws are impacting on the frequency of these offences.
  3. Similarly, task the Research Unit to undertake a survey of crimes against morality, drug-related, and those of fraud and dishonesty in 2005 so as to assess changes in those trends.
3. Enhancement of Operative Capacity: equipment
  1. Undertake a needs assessment of existing resources and equipment used in crime combating and crime prevention in Mauritius and match them with emerging needs, with a view to prioritizing expanding procurement needs.
4. Enhancement of information exchange and coordination among units
  1. Undertake a needs assessment of existing police information and operations room to identify best practices to professionalize the Operations Room including recommendations on training, equipment and procedures to be utilized.
  2. Task the Research Unit with creating improved mechanisms and procedures for information exchange and lessons learnt among police units and between police and other law enforcement agencies.

Research recommendations
1. Engage and encourage police and independent research on areas of concern as identified in the survey: namely drug dynamics, offences against morality, changing trends in fraud and dishonesty, etc.
2. The Central Crime Intelligence Unit, in cooperation with the Research Unit, to undertake a special study/workshop on items of maximum concern: drug traffic in Mauritius and porosity of entry and exit points. The product should aim at achieving a better understanding of the nature, scope and extent of the drug problem in Mauritius. A secondary product would be a scan of the capacities and limitations of entry and exit points control in Mauritius taking into account existing routes and emerging routes.
3. The Research Unit should improve its documentation and knowledge on the following:
  
  1. correctional services needs and dynamics.
  2. the dimensions of prostitution and gambling.
  3. juvenile delinquency trends.
  4. manners in which the informal economy can be regulated.
  5. the impact of the growing tourism market on the social fabric.
  6. profiling of offender and victim on larceny offences in general and cell phone thefts in particular.
  7. understanding the attraction and profitability of larceny offences in general and cell phone theft in particular.

Public Awareness and Partnership recommendations
1. Although Mauritius Police enjoy a positive image with the public, it would be recommendable to enhance the trust relationship between civil society in general and the police. Trust taken to its maximum capacity can considerably assist the police in the performance of their duties. To this effect, it is recommended that a proactive programme be put in place undertaking to:
  1. Relaunch the police under a slogan of service and partnership.
  2. Engage directly the business and commercial sectors behind police strategies.
  3. Improve the image of the police as non-threatening and friendly particularly amongst the youth to promote family values that include the neighbourhood police.
  4. The launch of this report nationally could be used to commence this practice.
2. Review the PPP initiative to analyse its impact and to create improved and enhanced operations.
  1. The initiative should be upgraded since its strategic value has been clearly demonstrated in the crime study. A Central Coordination Unit should be established to improve delivery.
  2. The initiative should be expanded and diversified across several target publics such as the media, the hotel industry, the schools and youth centres, and small business. A process of regular work-shopping and updating between these sectors and the police should be put in place.
  3. The initiative should particularly target re-sale and second hand industry owners due to the connection with larceny offences; and owners of IT enterprises in connection with fraud and dishonesty offences in general, and IT in particular.
3. Improve the understanding of the public at large about the role and responsibility of the police, the laws and their demands and obligations, and general public safety. This to be undertaken through:
  1. General education in schools and places of learning on all aspects of the law including the need to respect licence law.
  2. Generate a national public awareness campaign that can disseminate the findings of this report in general and in particular those sections related to domestic violence, crimes against morality, larceny offences and cell phone theft.
4. Create a specific public awareness campaign, including dedicated workshops and follow-up with the relevant stakeholders, on the issues of:
  
  1. Domestic violence.
  2. Licence laws offences.
  3. Drug offences.
  4. Property offences (with particular reference to computer parts and cell phones).
5. Improve victim support mechanisms and distribution of information to that effect for victim empowerment.

Section III recommendations

Recommendations coming from Section III further consider international trends and needs which can be summarized in the following:
1. Undertake a legal study of the existing legislation in Mauritius applicable to law and order to propose harmonization strategies.
2. Undertake a legal study of applicable international conventions and politically binding commitments entered into by Mauritius to ensure their application in the country.
3. Recommend that all policing training courses at university level and within the police and other law enforcement agencies carry a compulsory module on anticorruption practices and integrity enhancement.
4. Engage the media, the academic community and government in periodic assessments and discussions on the emerging international context and any threats to safety and security arising from it
5. Improve and enlarge information exchange mechanisms and opportunities with like-minded states and officials and experts on crime prevention strategies.
6. Promote a different approach to tourism preferences and responsibilities through enhancing the definition of tourism to include both tourist safety and tourist operator co-responsibility in the prevention of crime.

Dissemination of Recommendations

A final recommendation of this report is that the report itself be:
1. awarded maximum dissemination at national level through a series of launches and workshops with target public
2. presented formally to the SADC Summit in 2004.
3. presented formally to the SARPCCO AGM in 2004.
4. presented formally at the AU-NEPAD Peace and Security Committee and the AU Commission in 2004.
5. presented formally at the SIDS Summit in 2005.
6. presented formally at the World Summit of Tourism in 2005.
7. distributed in English and French to all Mauritius delegations and embassies worldwide.
8. made available to all law enforcement agencies and to police stations nationwide.

The report presents an implementation agenda as represented in Annex 2.

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