What prompts crime, really?

The video showing the execution of a suspected robber in Krugersdorp might be graphic, but it has brought some important issues to the fore.

I must mention, I am generally reticent about watching video material that depicts violence or sexually explicit material. I have a low tolerance for it.

However, I did watch this footage and scrolled through many of the comments made by ordinary South Africans. The overwhelming view was that the killing of the armed robber – even if he had already been neutralised – was to be commended rather than condemned.

The reaction appeared to be based on people’s experiences of crime and in response to the increasing numbers of police officers dying at the hands of criminals.

Police officers are, however, only allowed to use force as a last resort – but what about when they face brazen criminals who are prepared to shoot their way out of any difficult situation?

This is what the man who police kicked and shot dead had allegedly done after he robbed a store.

Being shot at appears to have incensed the officers, who totally lost control and shot the suspect who posed no further threat to them.

I am sad that the police had to deal with a situation such as the one they found themselves in, but that does not justify police officers behaving just like the criminals.

Their job is to uphold the rule of law.

It is however, clear that they are working under extremely trying conditions trying to apprehend hardened criminals.

Just how hardened is evident from some statistics in an article published in the Herald on August 12. It says: “Violent robbers and murderers will on average commit 100 crimes before they are arrested – seven years after they begin their crime spree”.

The article goes on to say that on average cash-in-transit robbers commit 110 crimes of various sorts before their first arrest. The average number of crimes for house robbers before being caught is 107 and the figure for hijackers is 105 crimes.

Compounding this appalling picture is the country’s conviction rate – between 7% and 19%. This is well below the international average conviction rate of 54%.

What this means is that much of the crime in our country is committed by repeat offenders who know the likelihood of their ever having to face the consequences of their criminal conduct is slim.

On the other hand is a public that feels increasingly vulnerable. No wonder then, that some people rejoice over what looks to be just desserts for criminals.

The problem is that one dead criminal will not solve the nation’s crime problems. What we need to do is try to understand the nature of this beast and what feeds it.

Some sociologists and social commentators will suggest that social conditions in some communities are breeding-grounds for the kind of crime and violence we are experiencing. And certainly, there is much merit to this view, but we cannot blame conditions alone for our unusual crime phenomenon.

Yes, poverty and population density play a role but in these selfsame communities one also finds extremely kindly and hospitable individuals who would never resort to crime to improve their lives.

I have lived through adverse social conditions. I even participated in petty criminality and the skirmishes youth get involved in. But I never considered crossing the line into a life of full-time criminality. So I ask myself, is crime produced by people who lack options or by those who lack willpower?

I would previously have expected people in academic circles to help solve this mystery but seeing that some of our students have shown they too, have a propensity for violence and crime, I think I should look elsewhere. Perhaps we should knock at the doors of faith-based communities and ask them to help rebuild the moral fibre of our nation.

Something needs to change. If not, I do not see us winning the war against gun-toting criminals with nothing to lose except lives already corrupted by drugs and and other destructive habits.