POLICING WITH NEW HABITS

Abstract

This chapter examines the rise of new policing habits in Durban, South Africa, that give life to harm reduction principles and practices. It situates this development within a moment of crisis and tragedy in the world-the Covid-19 pandemic. During the period of a ‘hard lockdown’ in the city, politicians, police, and non-government actors created safe spaces to protect the health, human rights, and dignity of the homeless population involved in opioid drug use. Drawing on Chan’s treatment of police culture as the product of an interaction between the structural ‘field’ of policing and the ‘habitus’, the chapter examines the imperative to police differently in this ‘Durban moment’ and the ensuing shifts in everyday policing practices. It reflects on what might sustain this novel form of harm reduction policing beyond the pandemic crisis. Show more