A Just Society Doesn't Arrest 'Soft Targets'
In an open society, the police would not be celebrated for their ability to harass migrants and informal traders. Their entire focus would be on the 1,300 perpetrators of real crime not the 80.
A recent police bulletin in Tshwane, meant to showcase success, instead highlights a troubling misdirection of state power.
The SAPS Facebook post was celebratory, lauding a “successful multidisciplinary High-Density Operation.” It listed the achievements: 23 arrests for drunk driving, the closure of a non-compliant liquor outlet, four arrests for drug possession, and the apprehension of “over 80 illegal immigrants.” Almost as an afterthought, the post also mentioned that 1,300 wanted suspects, including 268 for crimes against women and children, were also arrested during the whole operation.
This report, and the pride with which it was delivered, is a perfect snapshot of a state obsessed with performing “afterthought” security by means of a roadblock rather than through active police work. It champions the hashtag #SmartPolicing while practicing the very opposite and merely “playing to the media”.
Let us be clear: drunk driving is a serious crime with potential victims. But when we examine the rest of the “victories” from the roadblock, a disturbing pattern emerges. The state is directing its most coercive powers, that is men with guns and the authority to cage people, against “soft targets.” The 80 “illegal immigrants” are the prime example.
What were their crime? They crossed a border without the correct documentation. They have not, as the state implies, inherently harmed anyone, stolen from anyone, or committed any acts of violence. They are, in all likelihood, individuals seeking a better life, fleeing poverty or persecution, or simply trying to connect with family. Their “crime” is one created by bureaucracy.
This is not a policing victory; it’s a policy failure. We have state agencies that have made it prohibitively difficult, expensive, and complex for people, especially the poor, to gain legal entry or status. We create an impossible wall of red tape and then deploy the police to punish those who inevitably find a way around it.
This is a recurring theme. The “one liquor outlet” closed merely for non-compliance. Was it a den of criminals, or was it a ‘shebeen’ representing a local entrepreneur’s attempt to earn a living, one who failed to navigate the labyrinthine and costly Liquor Act? When we look at the four arrests for drug possession are we talking about the drug lords, the kingpins of violent trafficking syndicates, or individuals struggling with addiction, who need a clinic, not a cell?
These are what we must call “victimless crimes.” They are not acts of aggression against another person’s body or property but acts of non-compliance with state mandates. And by lumping the arrest of a desperate migrant in with the arrest of a violent predator, the state deliberately blurs the line. It wants you to see a statistic a headline that says “80 apprehended” and feel safer.
But are we safer?
The real story is buried in the post: That there were an astonishing 1,300 wanted suspects, 268 of whom were sought for crimes against women and children, roaming freely in the streets! These are the perpetrators of real crimes with real victims. Their arrest is the only part of this operation that demonstrably makes the community safer. Why wait for an “operation” to apprehend criminals?
This misdirection is by design. It is far easier to fill a quota by stopping buses and checking papers than it is to conduct the patient, difficult detective work required to catch a rapist or a murderer. It is easier to look “tough on crime” by rounding up people whose only offense is their poverty or their paperwork.
An open and just society, a truly safe society, would operate on a different principle. It would understand that state power is a dangerous tool, to be used sparingly and reserved for those who inflict actual harm on others.
A just society would make it simple, cheap, and easy for people to comply with the law - whether that means getting a visa, a work permit, or a business license. It would decriminalize acts of survival and desperation. It would treat addiction as a public health crisis, not a criminal one.
In an open society, the police would not be celebrated for their ability to harass migrants and informal traders. Their entire focus would be on the 1,300 perpetrators of real crime not the 80.
We must stop accepting these statistical “victories.” A society that expends vast resources to apprehend people for victimless, administrative “crimes” is not a smart society, nor is it a just one. It is a society that has lost its way, protecting its regulations more than its people. True public safety is measured not by the number of “soft targets” apprehended, but by reducing the number of real victims.
Charl Heydenrych is a retired human resources practitioner and a libertarian.
Why not? Why is SA your creche? Come in legally....earn a salary...pay tax...easy peasy!
Excellent!