Public Order Policing

Public Order Policing 2011 – Speaker Biographies

Written by Staff Writer -

3rd Dec 2009

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Public order policing in a changing African political environment Click here to register your attendance!

>	Innocence Chukwuma, executive director, Centre for Law Enforcement Education (CLEEN)
>	Mutuma Ruteera, dean of research, Kenya Human Rights Commission
>	Irvin Kinnes, conflict resolution and crime prevention practitioner, Kinnes and Associates
>	Professor Monique Marks, University of UKZ-N
>	Sean Tait, director UMAC, NGO UMAC
>	Piet Biesheuvel, consultant
>	Elrena VD Spuy, professor of criminology, UCT
>	Happy Schutte, provincial head, operational response service, SAPS
>	Bilkis Omar, research consultant: policing, crime & security, African Research Insight
>	Elrena VD Spuy, Professor of criminology, UCT
>	Cobus van der Merwe, Executive Manager: BD Land, Saab (t/a Electronic Defense Systems)
>	Abi Dymond, Omega Research Foundation
>	Dianne Kohler Barnard, MP Shadow Minister of Police
>	Bruce Botma, Business Development and Sales Executive, Rheinmetall-Denel Munition


In addition to his criminal justice work, Innocence Chukwuma is one of the founders of United Action for Democracy, Nigeria’s chief pro-democracy political party. A recipient of the Reebok International Human Rights Award in 1996, he is a leading researcher and consultant on police and policing in Nigeria. He has a Masters’ degree in criminal justice from the University of Leicester, United Kingdom.

Mutuma Ruteera worked for several years on human rights in Kenya. Previously, he has worked with the Nairobi Law Monthly, and the Media Institute. His most recent work, ‘Dying to Be Free’ pioneers a people-centred research methodology in human rights work. He is a member of the Adilisha Advisory Board. He completed his MA in international human rights from the University of Essex, UK. He has worked with Fahamu as an intern, during which he worked on the CDROM Pambazuka: participative approaches to human rights education.

Irvin Kinnes is the chief director, Policy and Research, Civilian Secretariat for Police and holds an HDE (UWC), MSc (London School of Economics). He is also a PhD candidate at the Centre of Criminology at the University of Cape Town. The topic of his thesis is: “Police Culture as an Obstacle to Policing Gangs in the Western Cape (1996-2006)”. He has a strong interest in gang prevention, policing and crime prevention strategies and community conflicts related to policing, and he assisted in developing the Provincial Gang Strategy for the Department of Community Safety in the Western Cape. He was former policing programme manager as well as a former board member of the Centre for Conflict Resolution. He has conducted research and feasibility projects for SAPS, the City of Cape Town and the Northern Cape Provincial Government, as well as private sector clients.

Prof Monique Marks is based in the Community Development Programme at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. She is also a research associate of the Centre of Criminology at the University of Cape Town. She has published widely in the areas of youth social movements, ethnographic research methods, police labour relations, police organisational change, and security governance. She has published three books: Young Warriors: Youth Identity, Politics and Violence in South Africa; Transforming the Robocops: Changing Police in South Africa; and Police Occupational Culture: New Debates and Directions (co-edited with Anne-Marie Singh and Megan O’Neill). Her fourth book (co-edited with David Sklansky): Police Reform from the Bottom Up: Police Officers and their Unions as Agents of Change is to be published by Routledge in late 2011.

Sean Tait is co-ordinator of the African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum. He is a graduate in criminology from the University of Cape Town’s Centre of Criminology. He has worked as director of the Open Society Foundation for South Africa’s Criminal Justice Initiative, and as director of a South African NGO UMAC working inter alia on issues of policing, crime prevention, conflict management and human security.

Piet Biesheuvel has a wide range of developmental experience in the governance, justice and security sectors, especially in sub-Sahara Africa, where he operated in the field for over 14 years. He has managed long-term Safety Security and Access to Justice (SSAJ) programmes in Uganda and Malawi, and was the British government’s policing and security adviser in South Africa between 1996 and 2001. He has advised on, designed, implemented or reviewed security and justice sector reform programmes in a wide variety of countries, including Nigeria, Ethiopia, South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Sudan, DRC, Lebanon, Iraq, Kosovo, Macedonia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bolivia, Guyana, Sri Lanka, Nepal, East Timor and Vietnam. He has also conducted a number of sector-wide reviews for the British government’s conflict prevention pools. He was the head, Rule of Law in the PRT Helmand Province, Afghanistan in 2008/9. He has provided governance, security and justice policy support to the UK and Dutch governments. He is a regular speaker on security and justice development issues and the lead facilitator of the UK government’s Security & Justice Development Course.

Elrena van der Spuy is an associate professor and is attached to the Centre of Criminology and Department of Public Law. She has a Masters’ degree in Sociology from the University of Stellenbosch and a PhD from the University of Cape Town. She has taught sociology and criminology at a number of institutions – UWC, Stellenbosch and UCT. She has been a visiting scholar at the Max Planck Institute in Freiburg, Germany, and at the University of Washington in Seattle. Dr Van der Spuy has published on crime and policing in both South Africa and internationally. Her current research interests include various issues relating to crime, social order and policing in Africa.

Happy Schutte, current operational head of the SAPS Crime Combating Units Gauteng, and has had 20 years’ experience in dealing with crowd situations in South Africa.

Bilkis Omar, Government Agency; International Affairs industry 2011–2011: Undertaking a study on heroin trafficking in SADC, senior researcher at the Centre for Justice & Crime Prevention Research industry: January 2009–December 2009: Researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, non-profit; 51-200 employees; 2002–2009: University of South Africa Honours Criminology 2000–2009: Studying Masters in Criminology (Public Order Policing)

Cobus van der Merwe joined the South African Army in Jan 1975 and was trained in mechanised warfare (cavalry, armour and specialised infantry). His training also included Soviet block platoon weapons and MBT’s. He served on active duty in African conventional warfare, counter-insurgency warfare, peace support and stability operations. He served in a number of systems and technology related staff positions. Most notably of these were Armour R&D Wing commander, PM for the ROOIKAT Wheeled Combat Vehicle program, PM for SA Army Vehicle Simulators and Senior Staff Officer Armour R&D for the South African Army. From1999 until his retirement from Regular Service in 2001, he was User System responsible for SA Army vehicle technology programs including programs like active protection, electric drive vehicles and signature management. He was awarded the Military Merit Medal and also holds three campaign medals. He is currently employed at Saab as Executive Manager Business Development responsible for Land System survivability for the global market. He is consulted by Government and Industry as subject matter expert on Armour User System issues and military technology matters. He is a frequent speaker at international events on protection related subjects. In 2010 he won the Saab Corporate Innovator of the Year Award. He is married to Brita and they have two sons. His interests are wildlife conservation, military and business strategy, combat vehicle technology and wildlife photography.

Abi Dymond is a Research Associate with the Omega Research Foundation (Omega). Omega is a UK based independent research organisation with 20 years experience looking at the trade in, and use of, military, security and policing equipment. Within this, Abi is currently working on an European Commission funded multi-stakeholder project developing best practice standards for the selection and use of less lethal equipment and restraints by law enforcement and correctional officials. Prior to this, she was Policy Analyst for a Scottish NGO, the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund where she focused on issues around corporate responsibility and human rights, with particular reference to the work of the UN Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Business and Human Rights.

Hon Dianne Kohler Barnard, MP has 23 year’s experience as a radio, television and print journalist; been a member of Parliament for eight years, and served as the Shadow Minister of Police for the past five. She is also the Democratic Alliance Deputy Federal Chairperson.

Bruce Botma has a career spanning more than three decades in the ammunition development, manufacturing and supply industry, inclusive of extensive experience in the marketing and sales of Less Lethal ammunition items to a global customer base. Bruce is currently employed by Rheinmetall Denel Munition as Business Development and Sales Executive for 40mm Grenade and Pyrotechnic Products and is responsible for the integrated marketing and sales of these product types, inclusive of Less Lethal natures, for Rheinmetall Waffe Munition in various Latin American, African, Asian and the Middle Eastern markets.