Former prosecutor jailed over missing dockets, including drunk driving case

[schumi]

The National Prosecuting Authority has welcomed the jail term meted out to a former public prosecutor convicted of stealing case dockets.

Jonas Phosoko was sentenced to five years' imprisonment by the Bellville commercial crimes court in Cape Town: three years' imprisonment for theft of a police docket and two years' imprisonment for attempting to defeat the administration of justice.

Elaborating on the charges, Western Cape prosecutions spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said in January 2011, a motorist was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. He was released on bail and warned to appear at the Bellville magistrate's court. The investigating officer sent the docket to the court later that month “but he never received it back from the court”.

More at : https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/so...missing-dockets-including-drunk-driving-case/

 

[Lucas Buck]

Why are these dockets not digitised? There's no reason for only one copy of a docket to exist or to only be accessible on paper.

 

[Datura]

Why are these dockets not digitised? There's no reason for only one copy of a docket to exist or to only be accessible on paper.

You must be kidding. There have probably been about 15 tenders approved and paid for for a digital filing system. If they had to implement it, no more tenders.

Disclaimer: I am making assumptions based on behaviour and not facts.

 

[Johnatan56]

You must be kidding. There have probably been about 15 tenders approved and paid for for a digital filing system. If they had to implement it, no more tenders.

Disclaimer: I am making assumptions based on behaviour and not facts.

In September 2008, the SAPS embarked on an e-docket system aimed at preventing the theft and sale of dockets as well as the loss of docket information from police stations. Each case docket is first indexed and registered on the Crime Administration System (CAS) before being scanned on a centralised system, accessible at the SAPS Information and System Management (ISM) component at head office. No scanning images are stored at station level and once the information has been stored, it cannot be deleted. The added benefit of the system is the ability of ISM to undertake audit trails of dockets within the new system.

The e-docket system, still at a developmental stage, has been rolled out to 143 police stations in seven provinces. Of these, 100 police stations in Gauteng and 29 police stations in KwaZulu-Natal have implemented the new system. Provinces such as Free State and Eastern Cape are still in the preparation phase.

The SAPS e-Docket System | ISS Africa

For many years, media reports have continuously highlighted the seriousness of stolen and lost case dockets plaguing the South African Police Service (SAPS).

issafrica.org

It's probably still the same system they were using a decade ago.

This assessment highlighted, amongst others, that the Integrated Case Docket Management System (ICDMS) is not being effectively used. The total cost of implementing ICDMS in SAPS stations and courts was R613.5 million in 2017.

The findings of the assessment included:

• 90.9% of officials appointed for DAS were not vetted before handling sensitive information;
• 72.7% of detectives are not fully trained to use the ICDMS;
• 62.9% of dockets are lost in the DAS with no disciplinary action taken;
• 14.3% of dockets are lost in court; and
• None of the 11 stations has linked their ICDMS with external stakeholders such as DSD and DOJ.

In 2017, the ICDMS had been rolled out to 1153 or 80% of SAPS stations nationally and to 509 of the 627 courts in South Africa at a total cost of R613.5 million. Minister Fritz said, “If used correctly, the ICDMS can be a powerful tool used to ensure that when a case reaches a prosecutor, it includes all the necessary information to ensure that a culprit does not get off lightly due to a lack of evidence.”

MEC Albert Fritz on e-docket software not being effectively used by SAPS and Courts | South African Government

www.gov.za

 

[MachoPants]

In other news, the PP didn't implement a digital forensics system to protect reports. Never ever has a report been leaked

 

[Lucas Buck]

It's probably still the same system they were using a decade ago.

72.7% of detectives are not fully trained to use the ICDMS;

R613.5 million and not everyone is fully trained, training should have been included as part of the cost, after which continuous training is essential, it's not like the system will remain the same with no improvements after the initial implementation.

None of the 11 stations has linked their ICDMS with external stakeholders such as DSD and DOJ

This is surely an IT problem and not a problem that the stations need to resolve individually.

• 90.9% of officials appointed for DAS were not vetted before handling sensitive information;
• 62.9% of dockets are lost in the DAS with no disciplinary action taken;
• 14.3% of dockets are lost in court; and

This is a problem of poor management from the very top of the police , it looks like there are people who stand to lose out if the system is implemented properly.