In 2013 the Western Cape legislature passed the Western Cape Community Safety Act (WCCSA) to improve monitoring of and oversight over the police. One creation of the WCCSA is the Western Cape Police Ombudsman, which became operational in 2015. This article reviews its history and context, as well as results from its first year. The Police Ombudsman, the only one in the country, must be seen as one of the results of efforts by the opposition-held province to carve out more powers in the narrowly defined constitutional space, and in so doing to exercise more effective oversight and monitoring of police performance, and improve police–community relations. The Ombudsman must also be seen against the backdrop of poor police–community relations in Cape Town and the subsequent establishment of a provincial commission of inquiry into the problem, a move that was opposed by the national government, contesting its constitutionality. Results from the Ombudsman’s first 18 months in operation are modest, but there are promising signs. Nonetheless, the office is small and it did not do itself any favours by not complying with its legally mandated reporting requirements.

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谦虚的开端，寄予厚望：西开普省警察专员

2013年，西开普省立法机关通过了《西开普省社区安全法》（WCCSA），以改善对警察的监视和监督。WCCSA的一个创建者是西开普警察监察员，该监察员于2015年开始运作。本文回顾了它的历史和背景以及第一年的结果。警察监察员是该国唯一的监察员，必须被视为反对派控制的省努力在狭defined的宪法范围内开拓更多权力，并以此进行更有效的监督和监控的结果之一。改善警察绩效，并改善警察与社区的关系。还必须在开普敦警察与社区之间的不良关系以及随后成立省级调查委员会的背景下看待监察员，此举遭到中央政府的反对，反对其合宪性。监察专员开展首18个月的调查结果不大，但有希望的迹象。但是，该办公室规模很小，它没有遵守法律规定的报告要求，因此对自己没有任何帮助。